‘Problematizing’ Learning at teaching.mrbelshaw.co.uk

WARNING! This website is no longer actively maintained. It is an archive of 2 years work by Doug Belshaw who now blogs at dougbelshaw.com...

As we move further into the digital information era, it is not knowledge and information which will be a commodity, but attention. The question is how do we get more of it from our students? In the past, extrinsic motivational factors, mainly based around the ‘carrot and stick’ technique have served education. You pay attention because of some kind of fear (e.g. of the cane, of being shouted at, of failing a test) and/or an expectation of some kind of reward. We are in the business of creating independent, flexible learners, able to approach situations from a number of angles. How do we create intrinsic motivation - the desire to learn?

One way is by ‘problematizing’ learning, or as it is more often called, by employing Problem-Based Learning (PBL). The range of strategies and techniques for PBL ranges from the simple and least disruptive (e.g. making the title of a lesson/lecture into a question which can be answered at the end of it) to more formalized, structured approaches. PBL is a student-centred approach which challenges the traditional teacher/student dynamic, with educators often being cast more in the role of facilitators of understanding than as being concerned with the transmission of knowledge.

PBL has a natural affinity with critical thinking - the ability to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information. The role of the teacher/instructor/guide is not a passive one during the student learning process, but a supportive and questioning one, leading to self-reflective skill acquisition on the part of the student. PBL often takes the form of a group activities where each student brings their knowledge and experience to bear on a particular scenario or question to be addressed. The information which the group is given as part of the task is organized and analyzed in the light of the interplay and dynamics of the group members who produce some form of solution to the initial problem.

PBL is a favourite of constructivist theorists in the way that knowledge is not given but created by the members of the group. It is an inductive, context-specific method which builds upon the prior learning of each student and involves aspects of both independent and collaborative working. Assessment is part of the learning procedure itself, comprising (at least in part) of student and group self-reflection and meta-cognition.

PBL is, by its very definition, a broad church with many elements which may be stressed to a greater or lesser degree depending on the interests and motivations of the educator and the limitations of the specific task. It is a postmodern approach to learning which stresses the individuality of experience and the importance of sense-making activities to embed knowledge and understanding in the mind of the learner.

As a (semi-)formalized method, PBL is found chiefly in Higher Education science and medical faculties. In compulsory education its elements are perhaps used without forming them into a coherent structure. Project-based learning is perhaps its closest cousin, but this is focused on the production of artefact an artefact or resource. PBL maintains its focus on the process, the interaction between collaborators on the task, without the requirement of needing to produce anything.

An example of how PBL could be used to create intrinsic motivation rather than relying on extrinsic motivators can be demonstrated with the following example. Let us imagine that you have a bright but lazy group of GCSE English students with whom you are studying Romeo & Juliet. Although they understand the plot and can remember the names of the characters, you feel as if they are lacking in empathy for them. Traditionally, you may ask them to write a diary entry as if they were one of the characters (e.g. Romeo after he sees Juliet for the first time, or Juliet’s nurse after the balcony scene). With PBL an approach might be to assign some of the different character roles to pupils in each group and then give them them a fictional (but believable) event/scenario which happens before or after the events in the play. Or, you could get pupils to imagine that the play does not end as it does, but some major event happens in the middle of the play. Perhaps just as Romeo and Juliet fall in love (or lust, depending on your interpretation…) the plague hits Verona and each family plans to leave the city to stay with relatives in various places. How would the two lovers manage to elope? Would they elope? Is there anything in Romeo’s nature which might make him go to where Mercutio and his friends are going instead? These are all questions which the teacher could ask.

There are many other applications of PBL in almost every subject:

Geography: inhabitants of a town at the foot of Vesuvius debate whether to abandon the town as the volcano is overdue in erupting
History: many uses including the possibility of ‘alternative’ histories. What would have happened if Drake and Howard hadn’t defeated the Spanish Armada? If the Nazi Germany had been victorious in WWII? etc…
Maths: What’s the best way to pack oranges in a box? Which shape(s) have the greatest compressive strength?
ICT: Is Moore’s Law likely to remain true?
(etc.)

Have you used PBL? Did you find it successful? How did your students respond to it?