Problem-Based Le arning in A stronomy and P hysics

Problem-Based Learning in Astronomy and Physics Summer School Leicester 2003

Personnel Derek Raine Project Director Sarah Symons Project Manager Sean Lawrence Local Management Committee Lewis Elton - UCL Ranald Macdonald -Sheffield Hallam Jim Collett - Hertfordshire

Today’s programme 1. Experiencing PBL – a lightening tour 2. PBL in Physics 3. Let’s start writing

PBL: Experience It Yourself Since she took office, Secretary of the Interior and Water Master Gale Norton has attempted to settle competing demands for Colorado River water. photo of Gale Norton from www.lvrj.com

Experience it yourself: The Wars of the West • Read the letter to Gale Norton from the Living Rivers Foundation • Write in your own words a sentence explaining the central problem(s) facing Secretary Norton. 2. As a group list the main stakeholders in the Colorado River

Learning Issues The concept of learning issues is central to PBL. It encourages students to think for themselves about what they know and what they don’t know about an issue. It helps identify questions for further research. On page 3 of the handout, list learning issues for a stakeholder group…..

What is PBL? “The principal idea behind PBL is that the starting point for learning should be a problem, a query, or a puzzle that the learner wishes to solve.” Boud, D. (1985) PBL in perspective. In “PBL in Education for the Professions,” D. J. Boud (ed); p. 13. What is PBL? What is PBL?

“…careful inspection of methods which are permanently successful in formal education…will reveal that they depend for their efficiency upon the fact that they go back to the type of situation which causes reflection out of school in ordinary life. They give pupils something to do, not something to learn; and if the doing is of such a nature as to demand thinking, or the intentional noting of connections; learning naturally results.” John Dewey (1916)

Learning theories ---a bluffer’s guide: Prior knowledge Context Cognitive theories……… PBL can be related to all

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

Understanding ‘understanding’ Six facets of understanding and their criteria: Explanation - accurate, coherent, justified, systematic, predictive Interpretation - meaningful, insightful, significant, illustrative, illuminating Application - effective, efficient, fluent, adaptive, graceful Perspective - credible, revealing, insightful, plausible, unusual Empathy - sensitive, open, receptive, perceptive, tactful Self-knowledge - self-aware, meta-cognitive, self-adjusting, reflective, wise From G. Wiggins & J. McTighe. 1998. Understanding by Design.

The common features of PBL • Learning is initiated by a problem. • Problems are based on complex, real-world situations. • All information needed to solve problem is not initially given. • Students identify, find, and use appropriate resources. • Students work in permanent groups. • Learning is active, integrated, cumulative, and connected.

PBL: The Process Resolution of Problem; (How did we do?) Presentation of Problem Next stage of the problem Organize ideas and prior knowledge (What do we know?) Integrate new Information; Refine questions Pose questions (What do we need to know?) Reconvene, report on research; Research questions; summarize; analyze findings Assign responsibility for questions; discuss resources

Groups and facilitation Floating Facilitator model Medical School Model

Facilitation • Eliciting students' reasoning process • Making connections • Defining terminology • Asking open-ended questions • Tolerating silence

Learning environments: subject knowledge and skills student prior experience and goals the assessment regime the community context for students Align! for staff

Skills Used Frequently by Physics Bachelors in Selected Employment Sectors, 1994 Source: AIP Education and Employment Statistics Division

Requirements for Graduate Skills • High level of communication skills • Ability to define problems, gather and evaluate information, develop solutions • Team skills -- ability to work with others • Ability to use all of the above to address problems in a complex real-world setting Quality Assurance in Undergraduate Education (1994) Wingspread Conference, ECS, Boulder, CO.

And how to get them • Make research-based learning the standard. • Build inquiry-based learning throughout the four years. • Link communication skills and course work. • Use information technology effectively. • Cultivate a sense of community. Boyer Commission, 1998

In other words…. ….problem-based learning

Problem-Based Le arning in A stronomy and P hysics