Elaboration and Development of Problems and Scenarios in PBL Courses: Part II

1. 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

2. 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

3. What are the features of effective PBL problems? Take 5 minutes to discuss this question with your group.

4. 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

5. 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 anew situation Comprehension - explain, interpret Knowledge - remember facts, concepts, definitions Bloom, B.S., ed. (1956) Taxonomy of Educational Objectives.

6. Bloom’s Taxonomy Revised 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.

7. 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

8. Explanation Sophisticated, knowledge-based justification of observations and ideas Interpretation Subtle, thorough grasp of meaning of texts, data, events Application Authentic use of ideas, processes in new/diverse contexts Perspective Critical analysis from different viewpoints Empathy Sensitivity to others Self-knowledge Awareness of limitations of one’s knowledge, biases and habits Six Facets of Understanding Wiggins and McTighe (1998). Understanding by Design.

9. 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.

10. Rubric to Evaluate PBL Problems

11. Writing Your Own Problem Starter

12. 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?

13. Example from Physics: Solving Problems Using Conservation of Momentum Traditional examples: • Pool balls colliding • Bullets hitting blocks of wood

14. 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.

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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?

19. 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?

20. A Real Traffic Accident • Based on police sketch • Students need to make assumptions and approximations • Information given gradually throughout problem

21. 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?”

22. 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?

23. Think of one or more learning objectives in your course Name a realistic application of the concept(s). Outline a scenario. Think of a realistic scenario from the news, a videotape, or popular press article What learning objectives for your course are evident in the scenario? Two Schemesfor Writing Problems?

24. 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.

25. 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

26. 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

27. 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 Consider the Following Problem Types:

28. Another Scheme for Categorizing Problems - Based on Types of Knowledge Source: M. Savin-Baden and C. Major. 2004. Foundations of PBL. Berkshire, England: Open University Press.

29. Types of Problems Based on Type of Knowledge (cont.)

30. 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.

31. 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?

32. 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?

33. Writing PBL Problems Start with a StoryStart with the Concepts Research Research What concepts are Look for the story to use involved? 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

34. A Final Consideration for Today: How would you assess to see if students met your original learning objectives?

35. 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

36. First Principle for Assessing Student Learning Assessment of student learning should be directly connected to the learning objectives of your course.

37. 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

38. 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 howseveral ideas come together (synthesis)

39. 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

40. 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 water-saturated air (100% humidity) diffuses into the case. Susan Groh, UD Chemistry & Biochemistry

41. Knowledge Comprehension Application Analysis Synthesis Evaluation # of points Total Points (Grade) +9 9 (F) +36 45 (D-) +22 67 (C+) +20 87 (A-) +9 96 (A) +4 100 Assess at Several Bloom Levels: Example from Chemistry Analysis of exam components Susan Groh, UD Chemistry & Biochemistry

42. 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?

43. 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

44. 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?

45. 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.

46. 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.

47. 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.

48. 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.

49. What is a Concept Map? A pictorial representation that shows the relationships between and among a connected set of concepts and ideas

50. 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