Problems of Teaching in Problem Based Learning Maria Teresa Moreno University of Delaware

1. Problems of Teaching in Problem Based Learning Maria Teresa Moreno University of Delaware

2. Background Information • During the first semester of 2004, the Department of Chemistry offered 11 sections of Chemistry 1 to first year students. • Six sections: Problem Based Learning (PBL). • Five sections: a more traditional approach to science instruction. • 60 students in each section, approximately 660 students participated in the study. • An experimental design with random assignment of participants to both conditions.

3. Background Information • The basic measure , a pre and post-test that incorporated questions for each of the levels of Bloom’s taxonomy. • The hypothesis that “PBL develops higher order of thinking skills among first year college students more effectively than other non- PBL approaches” was strongly supported by the data (see, Moreno and Landa, 2005). • The present study done from an interpretative qualitative framework is a follow-up study to the previous one.

4. Study Questions • How do students in the Department of Science react to innovative teaching practices? In particular, how do they react to the implementation of Problem Based Learning? 2. How does the analysis of qualitative data that reflects the students’ point of view complement the findings of the quantitative study?

5. The Two Types of Instruction Treatment Group Students met two days a week and worked in groups formed at the beginning of the semester. • At the beginning of the learning unit, students were presented with a problem. • Students, guided by the instructors and TA’s, solved a series of activities (in pairs and in groups) and held discussions that would lead to the solution of the problem.

6. The Two Types of Instruction Control Group • Students also met two days a week. • One of the weekly sessions was entirely devoted to lecture using overheads (50 minutes) and then 10 minutes for questions. • Second session, students formed small groups at random, to solve exercises and problems with the assistance of the faculty and the TA’s.

7. Methods Sample • Nine students, four from the non-PBL classes, and five from the PBL classes, were interviewed in depth. Data collection • Nine in-depth interviews were conducted, transcribed, coded, interpreted and analyzed, the software package NVivo was used. Each interview transcript was 6 to 8 pages double-spaced. • Document analysis , the University Strategic Plan (2000-2010). • Informal interviews with University administrators and faculty members were also conducted to cross the info. • Data collected in the quantitative study, demographic information and students’ grades and scores.

8. Interview Protocol • 1.Can you please describe how the class looked like? What did the professor do and what did you guys do in class? • 2. Can you name the activities or different sort of things that, in your opinion, have helped you learn better? Can you also explain how these activities have helped you to learn? • 3. Whichtopics or areas of the course have you mastered? How did you learn that? • 4. Do you think your skills of problem solvinghave been enhanced through this instruction? If so, how? • 5. How was your group experience? When was it good? When was it bad? • 6. Any comments, suggestions or anything you would like to add?

9. Methods Data analyses: the coding process • The interviews were coded keeping in mind the research question and the questions from the in-depth interviews. • Students’ answers were first coded separately regarding their condition: PBL or non PBL , 42 categories were developed. These categories were then merged and 20 categories resulted. • These 20 categories, included: learning, effective group work, ineffective group work, topics better learned, topics not learned, time constrains... • We then integrated more categories until we came up with five and finally three. • Three narratives were finally elaborated :learning, students’ group work experience, and the problem of time management. (see Nvivo)

10. Findings to our First Question

11. 1. Problems and scenarios as meaningful learning experiences regardless of the type of instruction….

12. 1. Students have stated that problem solving, is a better strategy for learning…. “In Chemistry if we were doing an activity and we were stuck, we had the instructors to help us through the difficulties… it is much better to learn this way. As you are solving and doing things, if you make a mistake the instructor gives you feedback, you start making a better sense of things…Whereas in math 101 you had to solve the exercises by yourself at home. You did not know if your procedure was right or wrong until the day of the test.”

13. However, there is still some sort of feeling of “risking something”, by not having the instructor lecturing to them or clarifying things… “Since the activities were organized first by pairs and then with the intervention of the whole group; if at some point one of the pairs would get stuck and decided to call the instructor for help, since we were so focussed on our own task , the instructor would help the other pair and we would not have a chance to listen to that particular explanation. Who knows, maybe it was something important and sometimes there is no time in class for each of the pairs to share everything they have talked with the instructor. Maybe what they had solved was complex or maybe there were interesting issues there, or it was just difficult. Who knows, we missed the explanation.”

14. 2. Group Work Experience (group dynamics) As Johnson and Johnson have stressed, only when all conditions of cooperative learning are satisfied cooperative learning works well in higher education (Johnson and Johnson, 1998). One of the students in the PBL condition, referring to the way in which group work was structured said: “It's very cool. So two pairs work simultaneously and these activities were complementary I mean: the first pair "A" would solve one part and the other pair "B" would do the other part, and then we would put both parts together. You needed both sides of the information and you needed that both were correct. So we would put the information together and among the four of us we would solve the group task which was shorter."

15. Group Work Experience Students on the non-PBL condition referred to the last task in the group dynamic work as being too difficult to solve, impossible to finish, and only completed when a genius in the group "saw" something that the others could not see. One student reported: "The last questions were more difficult and we almost never could finish them, very few times we attempted to solve the last questions."

16. Group Work Students in the PBL sections experienced a difference between the groups they experienced in high school and the group work experienced at college. This is what one student said: -Well the group I've had here (in college) people were willing to work if not all of them then the great majority. Everybody wanted to get a good grade. In high school we did not work we just ordered pizza when we got together in somebody's house and had fun. - And what are the factors that in your opinion contributed to make these college groups really work? - I guess that everybody wanted to pass the course. They all know that this is a required course, and there is some pressure right there. But then as the semester went by, the pressure was left behind, and we worked together because we liked to, we were delighted.

17. 3. The Problem of Time Management Students reported problems of time management (in both conditions) and (only in the non-PBL conditions) , this was aggravated with the misunderstanding of the role of the TAS Here are two excerpts: 1. - Has time been always enough for you? - No, not always, sometimes he would leave us stuff to do for the next class. - And what would you do in those cases? - We would take it home. - Then if you had the option to take it home, why would you copy the answers from another group? -Because we only had one or two days, and it is not that I can devote all that time for that particular homework. I have taken six courses this semester; I was taking calculus, more tough courses, besides there is not always time for us to get together as a group.

18. 3. The Problem of Time Management “Sometimes I just did not have any time left. I had taken six courses this semester, I had tests, laboratory reports to do, so I could not read that much. Besides, I do not like studying on Sundays. Even if it is only Sunday, I need one day off. So sometimes during the week I tried to look for some free time in between classes or in the mornings, stuff like that…I guess I just tried to study remembering the past classes and maybe trying to read a bit more.”

19. Findings to our 2nd Question

20. Findings to our 2nd Question • “PBL leads first year college students majoring in science, to employ higher order thinking skills”. • Nevertheless, this analysis has allowed us to see the underlying complexities in the process of implementing methodological innovations in higher education.

21. Discussion

22. Discussion • Problems and scenarios have provided a meaningful learning context for students. • College provides a natural environment for team work. At this stage, students are more concerned about passing the course. • Interestingly, lectures are still valued by students; they offer some sort of a psychological confidence to them. • Unfortunately, time management ended up being a serious problem, propitiating in a couple of circumstances cheating and plagiarism. • The qualitative analyses has allowed us to get a more in-depth look at issues that occur in the classroom setting and that complicate teaching.

23. Discussion • It was clear to all the faculty members who participated in this study that developing higher order of thinking skills among students is a ”must do” in higher education. • As a consequence of having participated in this study, the chemistry faculty, regardless of the type of instruction, gets together every semester to plan the mid-term and final exams. • They design these tests including items of different levels of cognitive demand and making sure that items of higher cognitive demand will be assessed and scored accordingly (i.e., using rubrics). • One of the best contributions of the study has been the motivation to improve the quality of teaching in higher education among chemistry faculty at this university.

24. References Anderson, L.W.,&Krathwohl, D.R. (Eds.).(2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching and assessment: A revision of Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives. New York:Longman. Bretel, L., (2003) Entrevistas a estudiantes que llevaron cuatro o más cursos ABP en Estudios Generales Letras de la PUCP, entre los años 2001 y 2002. Lima: PUCP. Abril del 2003 (in press). Boud, D., and Feletti, G., (1997) The challenge of problem-based learning. New York: St. Martin’s Press. Duch, B., Grog,S. Allen,D., (2001) The power of problem based learning. A practical how to for teaching undergraduate course in any discipline. Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing. Johnson, D., Johnson,R., & Smith, K., (1998)Cooperative learning returns to college. What evidence is there that it works. Change July/August 1998. Lampert,M., (2001) Teaching problems and the problems of teaching. Yale University Press. Moreno M.T., Landa, V., (2005) An experimental design to study the effectiveness of PBL in higher education, in first year science students at a university in Peru, South America. College Quarterly. Volume 8 Number 2. Plan Estratégico 200-2010 (2000) "Formación integral en tiempos de cambio" - PUCP