Elaboration and Development of
Problems and Scenarios in PBL
Courses: Part II
Deborah Allen
Richard Donham &
George Watson
University of Delaware
Workshop presented at PBL 2006
Lima, Péru
18 July, 2006
Workshop Overview
Effective PBL Problems
Grading “Grady”
Levels of understanding
Development of PBL Problems
Step-by-step writing of your problem starter
Sharing your ideas
Some pointers to finish the problem
Assessment in a PBL context
Some Resources
What are the features of effective
PBL problems?
Take 5 minutes to discuss this question
with your group.
Effective PBL Problems…
•
•
•
•
•
relate to real world, motivate students
require decision-making or judgments
are multi-page, multi-stage
are designed for group-solving
pose open-ended initial questions that
encourage discussion
• incorporate course content objectives,
higher order thinking
Bloom’s Cognitive Levels
Evaluation - make a judgment based on criteria
Synthesis - produce something new from component
parts
Analysis - break material into parts to see
interrelationships
Application - apply concept to a new situation
Comprehension - explain, interpret
Knowledge - remember facts, concepts, definitions
Bloom, B.S., ed. (1956) Taxonomy of Educational Objectives.
Bloom’s Taxonomy Revised
Knowledge
Levels
Cognitive levels
Remember Understand Apply Analyze Evaluate Create
Factual
Conceptual
Procedural
Metacognitive
Knowledge and cognitive domains combined; synthesis elevated above evaluation.
Anderson and Krathwohl, eds. (2001). Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A
Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives.
Taxonomy of Significant Learning
“Significant Learning” defined
as lasting, important change
in learner - not just cognitive
Interactive rather than
hierarchical levels
L. Dee Fink (2003). Creating Significant Learning Experiences : An
Integrated Approach to Designing College Courses
Six Facets of Understanding
Explanation
Perspective
Sophisticated, knowledge-based justification of
observations and ideas
Subtle, thorough grasp of meaning of texts, data,
events
Authentic use of ideas, processes in new/diverse
contexts
Critical analysis from different viewpoints
Empathy
Sensitivity to others
Interpretation
Application
Self-knowledge Awareness of limitations of one’s knowledge,
biases and habits
Wiggins and McTighe (1998). Understanding by Design.
Grading “Grady”
Think back on the “Deflating Grady”
problem. To what extent does it capture the
features of an ideal PBL problem?
Use the rubric to evaluate “Grady.” Discuss
your evaluation with your group members and
be prepared to report out.
Rubric to Evaluate PBL Problems
Descriptors
2
Criteria
3
Structure
Progressive disclosure
via multiple stages,
builds on existing
student knowledge.
Staging does not
flow well; transition
could be improved.
Too much or too
little information
provided at once;
short cuts
thinking/research.
Questions
Limited in number,
short, and open-ended;
encourage deeper
understanding.
Most are directive;
preempt studentgenerated learning
issues.
Lead to “yes-no”
answers rather than
thoughtful
discussion.
Research
Promotes substantive
research using multiple
resources.
Research limited to
textbook material.
Limited necessity for
research.
1
Writing Your Own Problem Starter
Step One:
Identify Learning Objectives
Think of a learning objective in your
course.
How do you usually address this learning
objective? What kind of problem or
activity do you usually assign?
– Typical end-of-chapter problem?
– A reading?
– Other?
Example from Physics: Solving Problems
Using Conservation of Momentum
Traditional examples:
• Pool balls colliding
• Bullets hitting blocks of
wood
Example from Physics:
Traditional End-of-Chapter Problem
A 1500-kg car traveling east with a
speed of 25 m/s collides at an
intersection with a 2500-kg van
traveling north at a speed of 20 m/s.
Find the direction and magnitude of
the velocity of the wreckage after the
collision, assuming that the vehicles
undergo a perfectly inelastic collision
(ie, they stick together).
Serway and Faughn. 3rd ed. College Physics,
Saunders, 1992.
Example from Criminal Justice:
Plea Negotiation
Central concept in class on courts
– Most cases resolved through
plea bargains
– Relates to other central course material
• Attorney and litigant roles, charging, sentencing
Traditional approach
– Stand and deliver lectures
– Emphasis on facts of plea
bargaining
Example from Biology
Objectives: Compare and contrast the
processes of respiration and photosynthesis,
and connect these cellular events with
their roles in global biogeochemical cycles
Traditional approach: Separate chapters on
respiration, photosynthesis, and global energy and
carbon cycles; for majors, often taught in separate
semesters
Types of Learning Objectives
Content-oriented: subject specific
– Basic knowledge and understanding of specific
concepts, techniques, etc. in the discipline
Process-oriented: global skills
–
–
–
–
Effective communication: oral and written
Acquiring and evaluating information
Working effectively with others
Higher order, critical thinking
Problem Writing Step One:
Identify Learning Objectives
Think of a major learning objective that
your problem can address.
Traditionally, how might this learning
objective be addressed? What kind of
problem or activity would you assign?
– Typical end-of-chapter problem?
– A reading?
– Other?
Step Two:
Identify Real-World Context
Name a realistic application of the concept.
Outline a scenario.
Ideas:
• Add story-telling to end-of-chapter problem.
• Add motivation, require students to go beyond
rote learning, do research.
• Include decision-making, analysis, or both.
• Other?
A Real Traffic Accident
• Based on police sketch
• Students need to make assumptions and
approximations
• Information given
gradually
throughout problem
A Real Solution to Global Warming?
John Martin discovered that high nutrient, low
chlorophyll (productivity) ocean waters are missing an
essential micronutrient: iron.
“Give me a tanker full of iron, and I’ll give you an ice age.”
Original decision: Should the government fund attempts to test if the
“Geritol solution” can reduce the impact of excess CO2 emissions?
Newest decision: Should for-profit companies be allowed to lease or
own portions of the ocean to sell sequestered carbon? Who owns the
rights to “the solution?”
Step Two:
Identify Real-World Context
Name a realistic application of the concept.
Outline a scenario.
Ideas:
• Add story-telling to end-of-chapter problem.
• Add motivation, require students to go beyond
rote learning, do research.
• Include decision-making, analysis, or both.
• Other?
Two Schemes
for Writing Problems?
1. Think of one or more 1. Think of a realistic
learning objectives in
scenario from the news, a
your course
videotape, or popular
press article
2. Name a realistic
2. What learning objectives
application of the
for your course are
concept(s). Outline a
evident in the scenario?
scenario.
Step Three:
Draft the problem
Outline the problem (create a ‘story board’) First
consider, “What will be on the first page?”
Suggestions:
• Good PBL problem has multi-page, multi-stage
construction - leave students guessing!
• Not all information given in chapter or text students look for resources.
• Challenge students to come to consensus, reach
conclusions, and make judgments.
John Henry - Traffic Cop
Stage 1: What questions need to be answered?
What measurements, data? What physics
principles? Then initial introduction to
momentum.
Stage 2: Sketch given, some information given;
students analyze and ask questions.
Stage 3: Outline procedure, make assumptions,
Apply concepts.
Stage 4: Make judgment and rationalize decision
based on physics principles
Stages of Plea Negotiation
Stage 1: Students are formed into groups, learn
about case facts
Stage 2: They choose roles, identify negotiation
priorities and resources, research law
Stage 3: Prosecution team makes initial charge, and
negotiation begins
Stage 4: Groups arrive at plea agreement, write up
group report of negotiations
Consider the Following
Problem Types:
Explanation or Analysis Problems
‘What is going on here?’
Decision or Dilemma Problems
‘What would you do?’ ‘What do you think?’
Task-Oriented Problems
Doing an activity or carrying out a project - for
example, interviewing patients or designing a
brochure
Another Scheme for Categorizing Problems Based on Types of Knowledge
Type of
Knowledge
Type of Problem
Descriptive
Explanatory
Fact-finding
Explanation
Examples
Following changes related
to land use in Zimbabwe,
many internal borders
changed.
People in the 15th century
used to believe it was
possible to fall off the
earth.
Example of
Question
What would a legal
map look like?
Explain why?
Source: M. Savin-Baden and C. Major. 2004. Foundations of PBL.
Berkshire, England: Open University Press.
Types of Problems
Based on Type of Knowledge (cont.)
Type of
Knowledge
Type of Problem
Procedural
Personal
Strategy
Moral dilemma
Examples
A 45-year old woman
cannot lift her arm more
than 45 degrees and she
complains of pins and
needles in her arm.
A mother breaks into a
drugstore to obtain
expensive, life-saving drugs
for her child. The next day
she tells her physician what
she has done.
Example of
Question
If you were this
client’s therapist,
what would you do?
What should the
physician do?
Step Three:
Draft the problem
Outline the problem (create a ‘story board’) First
consider, “What will be on the first page?”
Suggestions:
• Good PBL problem has multi-page, multi-stage
construction - leave students guessing!
• Not all information given in chapter or text students look for resources.
• Challenge students to come to consensus, reach
conclusions, and make judgments.
Problem Progress Report
On overhead:
Basic features of course
Objectives for student learning
Synopsis of problem
Scenario for first page, including guiding
questions
What comes next?
Feedback To Presenters
What did you like most about the problem?
Does it challenge students to think and do
research?
Is the problem appropriate for the proposed
course?
Writing PBL Problems
Start with a Story
Start with the Concepts
Research
Research
What concepts are
involved?
Look for the story to use
Research the Problem
First Draft
(Point of view, focus, appropriateness for audience, staging,
objectives nature of the end-of-stage questions)
Research, Draft II (refine)
Teaching
Draft III
From C. F. Herreid, SUNY Buffalo & W. Welty, Pace University
A Final Consideration for Today:
How would you assess to see if students met
your original learning objectives?
What Is Assessment?
“An assessment is an activity, assigned by
the professor, that yields comprehensive
information for analyzing, discussing, and
judging a learner’s performance of
valued abilities and skills.”
Huba and Freed, Learner-Centered Assessment on College Campuses:
Shifting the Focus from Teaching to Learning, 2000
First Principle for Assessing
Student Learning
Assessment of student
learning should be directly
connected to the learning
objectives of your course.
How Will You Tell
If They’ve Learned It?
Summative assessment
– Traditional grading for accountability
– Usually formal, comprehensive
– Judgmental
Formative assessment
– Feedback for improvement/development
– Usually informal, narrow/specialized
– Suggestive
Adapting the Traditional Exam Question
to PBL: Probing Critical Thinking Skills
Goal: to design a question that:
• goes beyond simple knowledge or
comprehension
• uses novel situation or “real world” context
• involves multiple concepts
• requires recognition of concepts involved
(analysis), their roles here (application), and
how several ideas come together (synthesis)
Traditional Exam Questions:
Chemistry Examples
Calculate the vapor pressure of a solution of
5.8 g of NaCl in 100 g of water.
Bloom Level: Knowledge
Explain why a solution of NaCl will have a
lower vapor pressure than pure water.
Bloom Level: Comprehension
A Higher-order Exam Question
The relative humidity inside a
museum display case can be
maintained at 75.3% by placing
within the case a saturated solution
of NaCl (containing excess solid
NaCl). Explain, in molecular level
terms, why the humidity remains
constant - even when watersaturated air (100% humidity)
diffuses into the case.
Susan Groh, UD Chemistry & Biochemistry
Assess at Several Bloom Levels:
Example from Chemistry
Analysis of exam components
Knowledge
Comprehension
Application
Analysis
Synthesis
Evaluation
# of points
+9
+36
+22
+20
+9
+4
Susan Groh, UD Chemistry & Biochemistry
Total Points (Grade)
9 (F)
45 (D-)
67 (C+)
87 (A-)
96 (A)
100
PBL Problem Assignments
You have drafted a PBL problem for your course.
It addresses important concepts in a substantive context.
Students will learn, understand, and remember.
Why consider a PBL assignment separate from a PBL
problem?
Isn’t the problem the assignment?
Closure
PBL problems are typically open-ended.
Student within a single group often pursue
different learning issues.
Students frequently have difficulty knowing
what the instructor thinks is important.
Assignments focus on central issues and bring
closure to PBL problems
Considerations
for PBL Assignments
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Individual or group response?
Course/problem content goals?
General education and PBL goals?
Graded or not?
Difficulty? (Bloom’s Taxonomy)
Interest level for students?
Form of the response?
Types of PBL Problem Assignments
Written assignments
Write a 2-3 page paper on a learning issue you
researched.
Write a dialogue about the controversy presented by
this problem.
Transform an experiment described in this article
into a laboratory exercise appropriate for
undergraduates.
Types of PBL Problem Assignments
Written assignments (cont.)
Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper
on this issue.
Compose a 200 word abstract for the article you
have just read based on the Guidelines for Authors
in Cell Biology.
Research a topic related to the course and write a
PBL problem for this course based on that topic.
Types of PBL Problem Assignments
Student Presentations
Prepare a case for your position and present it
to the class as a debate.
Prepare a 15-minute informative talk on this
topic using PowerPoint slides.
Types of PBL Problem Assignments
Written and visual assignment
Create a website appropriate for high
school students on this topic.
Prepare a concept map that incorporates a
major issue related to this problem.
What is a Concept Map?
A pictorial representation that shows the
relationships between and among a connected
set of concepts and ideas
Purposes for Concept Mapping
Generate ideas (brainstorming)
Design complex structures (long texts, web-sites)
Communicate complex ideas
Aid learning by explicitly integrating new and
old knowledge
Assess understanding or diagnose
misunderstanding
A Mini Concept Map
photosynthesis
consists of
light-dependent
reactions
water
that
require
light energy
light-independent
reactions
pigments
Concepts
Hierarchy
Propositional linkages
Also, cross-links
A Map-Making Strategy:
1. Think of all the words that apply, and write
them in a list
2. Prioritize, and transfer priority words to PostIts
3. Rearrange Post-Its to construct
interrelationships, hierarchies
4. Review and Discuss
5. Establish propositional linkages, cross-links
Today’s Final Assignment
Consider the course or problem you are working on and
how you are going to assess student learning in light of
the objectives you have. Write a synopsis of an idea for
an exam question or assignment appropriate for the
objectives of your problem starter from today.
Sources and Strategies
for Writing Problems
Newspaper articles, news events
Popular press in the discipline
Make up a story – based on content objectives
Adapt a case to a problem
Research papers
Other?
PBL Clearinghouse
An online database of PBL articles and problems.
All material is peer-reviewed by PBL practitioners
for content and pedagogy.
All problems are supported by learning objectives
and resources, teaching and assessment notes.
Holdings are searchable by author, discipline,
keywords, or full text.
Fully electronic submission, review, and publication
cycle.
Controlled access by free user subscription, students
excluded.
Reflections and Questions
Problem Writing Step 4
Continue to draft the storyline beyond a sketchy
scenario – begin to write the first stage
Think about point-of-view, nature of the end-ofstage questions, suitability for ‘audience,’
alignment with problem and course objectives
Convene at to hear progress thus far at time
announced.
Some Additional Considerations
for Step 4
A good PBL problem leaves just the right
information out!
Challenge students to come to consensus,
reach conclusions, and make judgments.