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[Phys-L] Problem Based Learning (was Teaching Methods, Fads, Time Spent on Mechanics, Etc.)



Rather than litter the lists with vacuous personal attacks, please
take a few milliseconds to hit "DELETE" now if you (a) have no
interest in the present subject, or (b) dislike long posts such as
this one (13 KB), or (c) accept the anti-cross-posting advice of the
anonymous universal expert "Ask Anon" at
<http://www.advicemeant.com/netiquet/usenet.shtml#Cross>, or (d) have
any other reason whatsoever.

In his AP-Physics post of 2 Aug 2005 titled "Teaching Methods, Fads,
Time Spent on Mechanics, Etc." John Luvera (2005) wrote [slightly
edited; bracketed by lines "LLLLL. . . ."):

LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
. . . . Someone mentioned that teaching method innovations are
recycled from the past . . . . seasoned veterans have told me just
that: "I remember when (fill in the innovation) came to our district
back in (fill the year)." . . . . I would like to get the opinion of
veteran teachers (or anyone who has knowledge on the subject) on
Project-based or problem-based learning (PBL). Visit MCLI (2001)] if
you have no idea what I am referring to. Is this a "re-tread" or is
it new?"
LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

As indicated in MCLI (2001), PBL has a venerable history and, in my
opinion, most implementations of PBL do not deserve of the pejorative
designation "retread." According to MCLI:

"Problem-based learning began at McMaster University Medical School
over 25 years ago. . . .[but according to Woods - see below -
McMaster was into PBL over 35 years ago and humans have been into PBL
since the stone age]. . . It has since been implemented in various
undergraduate . . . [see e.g., the exemplary Univ. of Delaware PBL
site <http://www.udel.edu/pbl/>]. . . and graduate programs around
the world. Additionally, elementary and secondary schools have
adopted PBL. The PBL approach is now being used in a few community
colleges as well."

In "Problem-based learning (LONG!)" [Hake (2000a)], I opined that the
most complete discussion of what is and what is not PBL is by Don
Woods (2005) of the McMaster Univ. Chemical Engineering Department.
Woods wrote [bracketed by lines "WWWWW. . ."; my CAPS]:

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
"Problem-based Learning: PBL is any learning environment in which the
problem drives the learning. That is, before students learn some
knowledge they are given a problem. The problem is posed so that the
students discover that they need to learn some new knowledge before
they can solve the problem. Some example problem-based learning
environments include: (a) research projects, (b) engineering design
projects that are more than a synthesis of previously learned
knowledge.

The traditional and well-known 'Case approach,' popular with business
schools, may or may not be problem-based learning. Often the case is
used to integrate previously-learned knowledge and hence would not
be, according to this definition, problem-based learning.

What's the big deal about PBL? Posing the problem before learning
tends to motivate students. They know why they are learning the new
knowledge. Learning in the context of the need-to-solve-a-problem
also tends to store the knowledge in memory patterns that facilitate
later recall for solving problems.

What skills should a student have before entering a PBL program? They
should be skilled at problem solving because that skill in needed as
the students try to solve the problem.

Does using PBL develop problem solving skills? Not without explicit
interventions on the part of the teacher. PBL offers an opportunity
to develop the skills.

Is PBL an example of cooperative learning? It depends. If the PBL is
an individual project, then it does not require cooperation with
others.

Why does there seem to be so much confusion about what is and what is
not PBL? PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING, LEARNING BECAUSE YOU NEED TO SOLVE A
PROBLEM, HAS BEEN AROUND FOR CENTURIES. INDEED, IN THE STONE AGE,
PEOPLE LEARNED SKILLS AND APPROACHES TO SOLVE PROBLEMS TO SURVIVE.
They just didn't say to each other 'Hey, you are using PBL.'

Similarly, I SUGGEST THAT ALL RESEARCH IS PBL, although we don't call
it that, we call it research. In the 1960's McMaster Medical School
introduced a learning environment that was a combination of small
group, cooperative, self-directed, interdependent, self-assessed PBL.
Since then this approach has been called 'PBL'. But PBL, as I
suggested previously, can be in any form where a problem is posed to
drive the learning. To overcome the confusion, I suggest we use the
awkward terminology of small group, self-directed, self-assessed PBL
when referring to learning environments similar to the McMaster
Medical school approach."
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

For more information on PBL, one might visit the PBL listserv with
archives at <http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/pbl.html>.

Of course, there may be student resistance to a teaching strategy
such as PBL that attempts to impose the "intolerable labor thought,
that most distasteful of all our activities" (Justice Learned Hand)
upon students.

In "Re: Student resistance to changes in professional education
practice," [Hake (2004b)], I quoted David Garvin's (2003) fascinating
article "Making the Case" [bracketed by lines "GGGGGGGGGG. . . "]:

GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
Christopher Columbus Langdell, the pioneer of the case method,
attended Harvard Law School from 1851 to 1854 - twice the usual term
of study. He spent his extra time as a research assistant and
librarian, holed up in the school's library reading legal decisions
and developing an encyclopedic knowledge of court cases. . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . .
In his course on contracts, he insisted that students read only
original sources-cases-and draw their own conclusions. To assist
them, he assembled a set of cases and published them, with only a
brief two-page introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Inducing general principles from a small selection of cases was a
challenging task, and students were unlikely to succeed without help.
To guide them, Langdell developed through trial and error what is now
. . . [erroneously - see Hake (2004b)]. . . called the Socratic
Method: an interrogatory style in which instructors question students
closely about the facts of the case, the points at issue, judicial
reasoning, underlying doctrines and principles, and comparisons with
other cases. Students prepare for class knowing that they will have
to do more than simply parrot back material they have memorized from
lectures or textbooks; they will have to present their own
interpretations and analysis, and face detailed follow-up questions
from the instructor.

Langdell's innovations initially met with enormous resistance. MANY
STUDENTS WERE OUTRAGED (my CAPS). During the first three years of his
administration, as word spread of Harvard's new approach to legal
education, enrollment at the school dropped from 165 to 117 students,
leading Boston University to start a law school of its own. Alumni
were in open revolt.
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

So what's new in education reform?

Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
24245 Hatteras Street, Woodland Hills, CA 91367
<rrhake@earthlink.net>
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake>
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi>

"Science should be visualized as progressing from problem to problem
- to problems of ever increasing depth. Problems crop up especially
when we are disappointed in our expectations, or when our theories
involve us in difficulties, in contradictions; and these may arise
either within a theory, or between two different theories, or as the
result of a clash between our theories and our observations. Thus
science starts from problems, and not from observations; though
observations may give rise to a problem, especially if they are
unexpected; that is to say, if they clash with our expectations or
theories."
Karl R. Popper (1902-1994) in "Conjectures and Refutations" (p. 222)


REFERENCES
Garvin, D.A. 2003. "Making the Case: Professional education for the
world of practice" Harvard Magazine, September/October; online at
<http://www.harvard-magazine.com/on-line/090322.html>. A footnoted
pdf is available at this site. Thanks to MIT's Lori Breslow and John
Belcher for bringing this article to my attention.

Hake, R.R. 2000a. "Problem-based learning (LONG!)" PhysLrnR post of
14 Mar 2000 11:37:46-0800 ; online at
<http://listserv.boisestate.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0003&L=PHYSLRNR&P=R816&I=-3&X=2962C9565F405EAE7A&Y=rrhake%40earthlink.net>.
See also Hake (2000b, 2004a).

Hake, R.R. 2000b. "History of PBL," PhysLrnR post of 21 Feb 2000
20:23:20-0800; online at
<http://listserv.boisestate.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0002&L=PHYSLRNR&P=R5057&I=-3&X=46255828893331FA50&Y=rrhake%40earthlink.net>.

Hake, R.R. 2004a. "Re: Effectiveness of PBL - Response By Don Woods,"
online at
<http://listserv.nd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0405&L=pod&P=R11428&I=-3>.
Post of 23 May 2004 12:02:34-0700 to AERA-J, ASSESS, DrEd, EvalTalk,
PhysLrnR, POD, STLHE-L, and PBL.

Hake, R.R. 2004b. "Re: Student resistance to changes in professional
education practice," online at
<http://listserv.nd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0410&L=pod&P=R1366&I=-3>.
Post of 1 Oct 2004 12:30:24-0700 to AERA-I, AERA-J, AP-Physics,
ASSESS, Dr-Ed, EvalTalk, PBL, Phys-L, PhysLrnR, POD, and STLHE-L.

Luvera, J. 2005. "Teaching Methods, Fads, Time Spent on Mechanics,
Etc.," AP-Physics post of 2 Aug 2005 12:54:17-0700; online at the
primitive LYRIS archives
<http://lyris.collegeboard.com/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?site=collegeboard&enter=ap-physics>.

MCLI. 2001. "PBL Overview," Maricopa [Community Colleges] Center for
Learning and Instruction online at
<http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/pbl/info.html>. For information on
MCLI see at <http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/>.

Woods, D.R. 2005. "Problem-based Learning, especially in the context of
large classes" at <http://chemeng.mcmaster.ca/pbl/pbl.htm>.