Does a Problem-Based Learning Approach Fit My Classroom?

It’s April, 1348 – one of the wettest springs in memory. People of your town are constantly muddy and soaked and chilled to the bone. Crops aren’t growing as well as they should be at this point in the year. An unknown messenger just showed up at your door bringing the first reports of the plague to your town. The “Black Death” is spreading rapidly. 96,000 already dead in Florence, and Florence is uncomfortably close to your home in Lucca. How will you protect yourself? How will you protect your community? How will you leverage the knowledge of others to help?

In many ways, the solution to this scenario, posed by Dr. Shelagh Gallagher is complex – it’s cross-curricular and requires us to consider what we know and how we would apply that prior knowledge and understanding to the situation. And there are a lot of unknowns. In fact, there likely isn’t a single solution - there may be only a “best option.”

This example of a problem-based learning scenario is one of countless possibilities for you to get your students to begin actively applying the content they learn to the world in which they live. And the best part – this doesn’t have to be a major undertaking and can be done using a “post-hole” approach. It starts with a rich scenario or a driving question that sets the stage for students to work with one another, to apply already-known (or to gather newly-learned) understandings, and engage in deep thinking. Some describe Project-based learning activities as a “fieldwork” approach to instruction.

Consider three questions matter when designing a problem-based learning activity or unit:

1. What do I want students to learn/understand/demonstrate at the completion of this unit? - These are your learning targets, your standards-focused outcomes, your assessment components. Consider using a “demonstration” of learning at the end as your unit/activity assessment. 
2. What do students already know? – This is often not just their subject-specific knowledge, but rather a breadth and depth of life experiences and academic understandings that could be acquired from the “groupthink” process. One of the best possible outcomes that could result from using a PBL approach in your classroom is that students will bring their unique knowledge and experiences into the conversation - whether gained from personal experience, personal exploration, or family or community connections.  In the scenario posed, above, I'd use my prior reading of Ken Follett's Kingsbridge trilogy to support my solution. 
3. What do students still need to know? – This is the yet-to-be-learned material – the embedded instruction component. Sometimes foundational or conceptual skills in a given unit or subject, sometimes “on-the-spot” learning, sometimes real-world experiences, sometimes “soft-skills” driven (communication, teamwork, public presentations, etc…). This might also be seen as a differentiated learning environment, where students/groups might receive the same instruction.

Better yet, complex problems such as this one can be the basis for engaging eLearning and Blended Learning lessons, particularly because they launch students into the problem-solving phase of learning, challenging them to consider and act upon what they already know while preparing for the application of new knowledge that, perhaps, has not yet been uncovered.

And because of the internet (and its array of crowd-sourced Problem-Based learning websites) it's relatively "easy" to do - give students a situation or scenario that would require them to apply learning from your class, and task them with developing a question about it. What's important is that the responsibility for learning is released to the students - they need to be free to ask questions about their learning and to uncover the answers to those questions. As teachers, it's not our job to "always" provide them with the right answer - our job is to provide them with the tools and resources to access and to determine the answer using the evidence they have available to them.

As you close out the first trimester (and approach the end of the first semester!) of this school year and leap into your planning and revisions for the one to come, you might consider using a scenario-based, or problem-based approach to breathe new life into a tired, outworn (or outdated), or under-performing lesson or activity in your classroom.

Maybe you start by integrating a video from OK Go, Dude Perfect, or RealLifeLore as the tool that helps your students develop their questions (also mentioned in my last post!). Or, maybe you go a little further and utilize some of Robert Kaplinsky's lessons, or even those from Andrew Stadel at Estimation180.com.

With the right preparation and support, this approach can be made to fit every classroom - whether using a full-on approach to redesign your classroom or as a "post-hole" approach to help solidify the gaps in understanding that students have in your units. 

It answers the question, "Why do we need to know this."

It activates prior knowledge and applied understandings from other coursework.

It transfers learning to other subject areas. 

It creates excitement. 

It pushes students to be active learners.

It forces them to find solutions, applying the skills gained in your class to real life. 

This is a great time to reach out to your instructional coaches, building administrators, and/or department leaders to get help finding resources (which may include your colleagues), brainstorming “problem” ideas for your subject or specific-student group, and/or to get feedback and assistance as you design assessments/lessons/units that integrate this method of instruction.