Developing Problem-Based Learning Activities

DEVELOPING PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING ACTIVITIES

ROBERT W. PENROSE Science Department, United School District, Armagh, PA 15920 [email protected] [email protected]

This workshop will help participants become familiar with Problem-Based Learning. Examples will be shown in order to give an overall feel for how PBL can be used. These examples will show how to use this strategy in a single unit or throughout an entire course. Participants will then chose an area within their curriculum to develop a framework for a PBL activity in their class. A step-by-step procedure with discussions of rubrics, authentic assessment and incorporating inquiry and multiple intelligences will give participants all the background they need to develop PBL activities for their classrooms.

Why Problem-Based Learning?

As a hands-on science teacher, it always bothered me when I taught a unit that was very hard to make hands-on with a limited budget. Inquiry is the key to science. One of the biggest accomplishments of a science class is helping students to learn how to think scientifically and retain the knowledge they have gained. This is the basis of the constructivist theory of learning. Lecture, as we know does not come close to accomplishing these goals. So, there I stood in front of my Biology classes lecturing with an overhead showing the organelles of the cell and their functions. I could tell my students were bored, and I was putting myself to sleep. After participating in one of the courses required for my Master’s degree, I came upon an idea to take this boring part of my curriculum and make it more student-based, inquiry-type, constructivist-centered unit. Problem-Based Learning was the key.

“In a PBL activity, students are cast in realistic roles and presented with an “ill- structured” problem – a complex situation that has no single, clear-cut solution.” [1] How could I rework my cell unit to fit this type of activity? First, I had to decide what I wanted them to learn. The problem must be authentic if students are to stay motivated and learn for the problem. [2] I wanted them to know the organelles of a plant or animal cell and understand how they work together to keep the cell functioning. But what problem could I present them to help them learn and retain the information as well as keeping them motivated?

One of the best ways for students to remember information is for them to teach it. This gave me a direction in which to work. I wanted to put them in the role of a teacher creating something for others to learn with. I also wanted them to use their many different abilities. Multiple Intelligence theory teaches that we all learn in possibly eight different ways. With varying levels of students in my class, some had different “gifts” from the others. My idea worked to combine all of these things into a fun learning experience. I developed a make-believe company that contacted the students in my Biology I classes. My classes were asked to produce learning materials for elementary level students so that they could learn the parts of the cells and their functions. My students were asked to create a three-dimensional model of the cell, using whatever materials they wished and a storybook that was age level appropriate. This book was to compliment the cell model and be the basis for a unit on cellular structure for the elementary students. They the students had to “sell” their product to me as the company’s representative. This could not be a typical show and tell presentation. They had to convince me that their product was the best. They had two weeks to complete their products and present them.

In their letter was a rubric that the students could use to guide them. This rubric was constructed to give the students creative liberties. It gave details, but did not handcuff them in their ability to create a unique product. I also did not give them a list of organelles to be used. They were responsible for finding the important information to cover in their product. I was a resource for the students, not a lecturer. The results of this were phenomenal.

My students became excited about their assignment because they could all relate to helping teach younger children. Many had siblings or relatives that they could picture using the materials they were producing. They then had to overcome the obstacles of finding the organelle names and then defining their functions in a way that elementary students could understand. Once that was completed the next problem was the three dimensional model. It had to be something that would capture younger students attentions, have nothing on it that would harm students, and represent the cell in a way the students could use to associate the organelles with the functions. Some used play dough, others used everyday objects, and some students even used food items and developed a “recipe” for their cells that the teachers could help the students make. The next hurdle was the book. Many tried using stories they knew as frameworks, but some took the challenge and developed innovative works to excite the elementary students attentions. Finally came the sales pitch. Some students did the “infomercial” format. Others developed data from surveys that helped to show their product was best. Some even developed jingles and sang them. More often than not, the results overwhelmed me and shamed me. In some cases I did not give my students enough credit for their abilities and talents.

All of my students have been successful in this approach to learning the material. Because they had to reword and rework definitions for younger kinds to understand, they had to make mental connections with things they knew to help them. This is constructivism to the letter. They remember. Later in the year when we talk about DNA, RNA and protein synthesis, my job is easier because the students remember the organelles that perform this function and where the materials are stored. Students, years after graduation, can still tell me their children’s story. Was this a success? The proof speaks for itself. The interesting thing is that my learning disabled students have learned the material just as well as my higher ability students. Some of them have also discovered talents they did not know they had and gained confidence in themselves. The rewards have been far greater that I could have ever imagined.

I have expanded this initial project into a semester long project for my 11th and 12th grade Environmental Studies class. They class is outdoor based and studies three major areas of the Western Pennsylvania Ecosystem, a stream, a woodlands area, and a grasslands area. After covering these three areas, they students have a solid base of knowledge about Pennsylvania Ecology. My PBL activity for them puts that knowledge to the test. At the beginning of the semester, I inform the students that they have been contacted by a group to help design a “bio-dome” on the planet Mars. This “bio-dome” will house a deciduous forest ecosystem. Through their studies, they are to develop a layout that includes the three major areas covered. A complete listing of all organisms and the resulting food webs must be shown. A cost analysis for the entire project is required and it must be detailed. Soil types must be examined and listed as to types and amounts needed to support the project. They must place all of this in a portfolio and a Power Point presentation and then sell it to me as the company’s representative.

This is no small project. But it makes them apply the knowledge they have gained in their research to a new and possible scenario. It is much more detailed and requires much more exploration of information. Once again a rubric is supplied that gives enough detail to complete the project, but not so much as to limit the creativity of the students. The students are amazed at where they can find the prices for organisms on the Internet. They also do not realize the detailed food webs that our ecosystem works on. For them it is a fascinating experience to develop a whole new world on another planet.

We know from experience that inquiry based, hands-on, minds-on activities help our students remember the material. Problem-Based Learning is another tool that can be used to help our students make those connections they need to retain information. The other key point is the fact that PBL makes our students thinkers. In this world of instant information, it is the person who can make use of that information that moves ahead. PBL helps students to see how to apply information to new situations. That is science and that is life.

PBL is not an end all for science education. Like any other learning strategy, it can be over used and loose its effectiveness. But for a shake-up in your classroom, PBL can make a world of difference.

Acknowledgements

I would like to that the IUP branch of CETP for helping me refine my ideas into instructional strategies that have helped my students become excited about science. I would also like to thank United School District for letting me participate in the Pathways to Change Conference. It is a pleasure to represent my school district at this level.

Robert Penrose has been the Biology I teacher at United High School for nine years. He has designed and taught the Environmental Studies course for five years. He is a member of NSTA and PSTA and serves on the PSTA Convention Committee. He has work on a project to develop an on-line science course for the state to help teachers meet their Act 48 requirements. He has presented papers as both the PSTA Conventions and at the NSTA convention in St. Louis. He also teaches course on technology, discipline and learning theory at the local intermediate unit.

References

[1] Steve Uyeda, John Madden, Lindy A. Brigham, Julie A. Luft and Jim Washburne, “Solving Authentic Science Problems”, The Science Teacher, January 2002, vol. 69, No. 1 [2} Howard S. Barrows, “Practice-Based Learning: Problem-Based Learning Applied to Medical Education”, Springfield, Ill.: Southern Illinois University School of Medicine