Education
and the way we learn is rapidly changing. Today the emphasis is not so much on
“bookish knowledge” rather the emphasis lies in innovative/creative thinking
that leads to problem solving. Against this backdrop, problem-based learning
(PBL) is soon emerging as the preferred path, and is in many ways what defines
a scholar in the 21st century.
So
what is Problem-based learning? Jane Ostrander, principal investigator and
project director for the
National Science Foundation funded project Destination: Problem-Based
Learning (DPBL) says, PBL is about creating self-directed,
self-managing, adaptive learners who will be successful in the ever-changing,
globally competitive workplace. PBL challenges students to solve real-world
problems, create deliverables, and present reports, or results that match what
they will face in their professional careers. “The world of work--the pace
of technical change, relationship of employers and employees, the very jobs
that are out there now and will be out there 10 years from now are different.
The competition is global” says Ostrander. PBL arms students with capabilities/soft
skills needed to succeed in the rapidly changing workplace.
Now
that we’ve addressed the definition, the debate over PBL as an in-born, or a skill
that can be learned
and cultivated remains. For the naysayers, this is probably
where the DPBL project takes over. The Destination: Problem-Based Learning
(DPBL) project is a large-scale materials development project funded by the NSF
ATE program and located at Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno, NV. The
Destination PBL project advocates for the scaling up of PBL though (a)
deepening its understanding of PBL in practice through faculty action research;
(b) sustaining work by building a knowledge network that supports efforts to
expand the adoption of PBL in workforce education and builds a shared knowledge
base, and (c) spreading research-based knowledge of how to create PBL
materials, facilitate PBL workshops, guide PBL classrooms, and build PBL
community. “These actions support our goals to develop resources, knowledge,
and processes to support faculty in their efforts to change their professional
practices, and to develop and implement PBL that aligns with industry
requirements for technicians and increases student engagement and learning”
Ostrander said.
To set its
goals and vision into motion, DPBL has engineered several tools and resources.
The DPBL project
has created an online Scenario Building model, process, and
tool based on Google Sites. The companion Assessment Builder and Assessment
Guide lead faculty through the process of creating an authentic assessment plan
and items for their classes. Scenarios and Tasks created with the scenario
builder by project faculty and workshop participants are available online at
learnpbl.com.
The DPBL
project has fostered four knowledge building communities supporting faculty and
administrators adopting PBL. These include: PBL-Bio/Biotech that grew out of the online Faculty Action
Research workshops; PBL-Hawaii, led by faculty and administrators within
the University of Hawaii system to create a knowledge building community for
PBL in Hawaii; PBL-West includes faculty from Colorado to California to deliver
workshops and conference session in implementing and developing PBL, managing
students teams, and facilitating PBL workshops for faculty, and PBL-East which
includes faculty east of Colorado to the Carolinas. This community, co-created
with the SC ATE Center at Florence-Darlington Tech, hosts the Roots and Wings
(RnW) Instructional Leadership Institute.
Indeed
these tools have a wide scope and offer vast resources, but how are they being
applied, or more
importantly how are educators using DPBL’s resources to
integrate PBL into every day curriculum? Co-PI and Training Director, Judy
Fredrickson, Ph.D.’s intro to programming course is entirely PBL. Students are
new programmer trainees in an alternative energy company. The first day
students are handed documentation like new employees in a company would get,
assigned to a team, and asked to install and test a compiler. As the term
progresses, the students produce programs, test cases, documentation,
presentations, and other products common to the professional world of
programming. Likewise instructors at other partner colleges have collaborated
on scenarios and tasks whereby students can develop and analyze products or
software.
Being
NSF ATE funded, partnerships with other NSF ATE Centers becomes a part of its
operational
structure. DPBL hopes to offer workshops with new partners in
May/June 2014. The goal of the workshop is for faculty to create a scenario,
tasks, and assessments they will use in their classrooms, and have the skills
to successfully implement the tasks in their classrooms when they leave the
workshop. DPBL is also currently working with AMTEC in Kentucky to support
their efforts to convert the curriculum they’ve developed for advanced manufacturing
technicians into PBL. DPBL also looks forward to working with FLATE in offering
similar workshops in the future, or collaborating with FLATE to add PBL to the
Center’s toolkit.
For
more information on the DPBL project and upcoming PBL based workshops contact
Dr. Jane Ostrander at jostrander@tmcc.edu,
or visit http://www.learnpbl.com. For information on
FLATE and its STEM based resources contact Dr. Marilyn Barger at barger@fl-ate.org, or visit www.madeinflorida.org and www.fl-ate.org.
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