PBL Summer Workshop 2006

1. PBL Summer Workshop 2006

2. Programme – Day 1 • Session 1 (1100-1230) • Welcome! • The PBL Experience • Session 2 (1400-1530) • PBL Structures • Session 3 (1600-1730) • Problem Development

3. Programme – Day 2 • Session 1 (0930-1030) • Integrating Assessment • Session 2 (1100-1230) • Collaborative Writing and Group Endpoints • Problem Development • Session 3 (1400-1530) • Collaborative Writing and Group Endpoints • Presentations • Session 4 (1600-1730) • The Learning Environment

4. Programme – Day 3 • Sessions 1 & 2 (0930-1230) • PBLonline with Maggi Savin-Baden • Session 3 (1400-1530) • Problem Presentations • Discussion

5. The PBL Experience

6. What is Problem-Based Learning? Problem-based learning (PBL) is a student-centred method of teaching in which students learn by investigating real-world problems and, working in groups, seek out the tools necessary to solve them.

7. Real-world problems motivate and engage students Co-operative working aids learning Student-centred starting points accommodate a range of student prior learning, objectives, and matched assessments Forms a coherent learning environment Develops professional skills – NOT just a methodology Problem-based Learning Why choose PBL?

8. Experience PBL Problem developed by Jennifer Blumhof, GEES

9. Sustainable Olympics Problem You are a group of academic consultants invited by the Mayor of London to advise on ‘greening’ the 2012 Olympics so that they produce sustainable benefits for Londoners. You have six weeks to submit a report and today your group will begin to address the task.

10. Sustainable Olympics Task 1: Individually, write a sentence explaining the central issues(s) to be presented to the Mayor.

11. Sustainable Olympics Task 2: As a group list the main stakeholders involved in the Olympics 2012 sustainability project.

12. Sustainable Olympics Task 3: Consider what you already know about the issue from the viewpoint of your stakeholder group.

13. Sustainable Olympics Announcement: At the end of this session your group has two minutes to give a presentation on your preliminary ideas.

14. Sustainable Olympics Task 4: Take five minutes to list learning issues and tasks for your stakeholder group and how you intend to cover each one.

15. PBL Structures

16. PBL structures: The LEICESTER model Locate the problem Existing knowledge Issues identified Course of action determined Enquiries carried out Share information Theorise Evaluate progress against target Repeat, Report, Reflect

17. A spectrum of PBL Choosing an implementation which suits your situation Introducing PBL incrementally Running PBL alongside or within a traditional structure

18. A spectrum of PBL – Model 1 Enhanced problem classes with mini-PBL problems. Benefits: Students have more flexibility in adapting problem-solving templates to new situations.

19. A spectrum of PBL – Model 1

20. A spectrum of PBL – Model 2 Replacement of an existing experiment with a PBL-like version. Benefits: Students practise experimental design, the pertinence of results, and alternative points of view about presenting physics.

21. A spectrum of PBL – Model 2 From: Quality Assurance Division To: Head of Systems Re: Monitoring of levels and temperatures in manufacturing process It has come to our attention that we rely on visual inspection to monitor the sugar levels in the supply vats. In order to ensure a steady supply of sugar to the heaters we need to keep the level between defined upper and lower limits. This is particularly important as we use only a single low temperature warning system in both the toffee and caramel vats which could present problems if the temperature falls too low from an over or under supply of sugar. This certainly isn’t best practice and risks significant financial losses if we have to interrupt the manufacturing process. Can you get the research people on to this? We need something that will not fail if the power goes.

22. A spectrum of PBL – Model 3 Introduction of pre-/post-laboratory sessions using a PBL model. Benefits: Students become habituated to devoting time to preparation of investigations and reflection on results and practices, and also see that tutors will give guidance but not do work for them.

23. A spectrum of PBL – Model 3 1. Locate problem 2. Existing knowledge 3. Identify learning issues 4. Course of action These steps first take place in a facilitated pre-laboratory seminar and form a one-page Group Action Plan. 5. Enquiries and/or Experiments Self-study and laboratory work 6. Share results 7. Theorise 8. Evaluate progress 9. Repeat, Report, Reflect Groups perform these steps either on their own and, more formally, in a facilitated post- or during-laboratory seminar. One unit may contain many iterations of the strategy.

24. A spectrum of PBL – Model 4 Integration of laboratory work, lectures, and problem classes. Benefits: Students see physics as an integrated activity to investigate important, interesting problems. New knowledge is gained for a reason, and a problem which will at first seem beyond solution will be resolved by a process of learning and collaboration.

25. A spectrum of PBL – Model 5 A PBL module. Benefits: Students become ‘project managers’ who work to goals, manage their own learning, converse meaningfully with subject experts, and whose behaviour and output models real-life research work.

26. A spectrum of PBL – Model 5 The Johnson Converter (Patent #05-2005) Abstract: A device to harness solar energy. The sun heats a chamber of gas during the day which expands, driving a piston. At night the gas cools, and the process reverses. Description: Every day over 1000 joules of energy beat down on every square metre of the Earth every second, most of it going to waste. The Johnson Converter intends to harness some of this energy without the use of technically complex and fragile solar cells. The Johnson Converter consists of a chamber of air – just plain air, so no poisonous gases, no special materials that cost extra money, or can be exhausted and need to be replaced – with a piston to extract the energy. Essentially, the converter operates like a steam engine, but rather than the piston being driven by evaporating water, it’s driven by expansion of gas due to insulation.

27. Problem Development

28. Good PBL problems ... • relate to the real world • 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 • motivate students

29. Aspects of PBL programme design • Mapping of learning issues into problems • Content, process, and skills • Timetable • Contact time, nature • Texture and pressure • Self-study time • Staffing and hours • Group format and formation • Resources • Facilitation • Assessment • Evaluation and development

30. Problem writing • Choose one of the news stories given to your group • Decide in which course (real or fictitious) you could use this problem scenario • Sketch out the problem • What learning issue(s) could you address?

31. Integrating Assessment

32. Collaborative Writing Workshop

33. Workshop Aims Explore ways in which collaborative writing environments can be used to promote students’ group work, writing skills, and knowledge structuring Experience of using representative collaborative writing environments in the classroom and for distance learning Investigate collaborative writing from the student perspective

34. Background Are you using teaching methods which assume collaborative writing skills? Do the results meet your expectations? Are students gaining additional benefits from their writing tasks? Is collaboration a natural skill or can it be learnt and practised? Do we support students adequately when introducing ‘new’ technologies?

35. Do students understand that when we say ‘writing’ we mean... communication editing writing reviewing competence content authority audience creativity opinion engagement authorship engagement language format responsibility style structure level refereeing references professionalism research revising grammar originality planning

36. Workshop Tools • Wikis • Macromedia Breeze • Microsoft Word

37. What’s a Wiki? • Wiki is the Hawaiian for ‘quickly’ • It has also come to stand for ‘What IKnow Is’ • Wikis are free-form, hyperlinked, short articles • Wikipedia is the best known wiki environment

38. What’s a hyperlink? • Clicking on a hyperlink takes the reader to another page of information related to the hyperlinked word

39. What is Breeze? • Breeze is an online collaborative environment developed commercially for business, industry, and education • Breeze comprises communication, document sharing, collaboration, and presentation capabilities • Other similar packages are available

40. We know what MS Word is! • Word represents the most common tool for collaborative writing: word processing software • Most students turn to Word (or equivalent) first

41. Collaborative Writing Workshop A chance to experiment and reflect

42. The Learning Environment

43. An integrated learning environment • Physical environment • Virtual learning environment (or course management system) • Community • Assessment How can PBL integrate these elements?

44. CETL PBL Environment Flexible IT Environment Projects Laboratory First Year Groupwork Room Open Groupwork Room PhysicsLaboratory IT Teaching & Conferencing Media Suite

45. Evolution of learning environments The Traditional Approach: - the sage on the stage First the lecture….

46. Evolution of learning environments How the lecture appears to the student: N = 0mO G = t2N RN = 0 RN = 0k ….then the exercise How the exercise appears: S apmh dparmpof pg tsfoid t = 0.02 z jsd m = 10000 yitmd qrt zrytr smf s vittrmy O = 1 szq. Ejsy od yjr zshmryov goraf N sy oyd vrmyrt? Ejsy od yjr gaic G yjtpihj yjr dparmpof? (0 = 4   107) A long dparmpof of radius t= 0.02 m has m= 10000 yitmd per metre and a vittrmy O = 1 szq. What is the zshmryov goraf N at its center? What is the gaic G through the solenoid? (0 = 4   107)

47. Evolution of learning environments Quality of learning ... the structure of traditional science courses erects numerous roadblocks to students becoming actively involved in their own learning. Encouraging students to remain in this passive role in the classroom has the further unfortunate effects of promoting rote learning … and riveting intellectually immature students to a naïve view of knowledge and its acquisition. From Deborah Allen, Barbara Duch & Susan Groh The Power of PBL in Teaching Introductory Science Courses

48. Academic physicists Structured and focussed End-point Them and us Professional student Fractured and unformed Starting point Them and us The (traditional) learning environment subject knowledge and skills + prior knowledge and goals + assessment + community

49. What is constructive alignment? “Many schools have checklists of innovative practices…. Often, however, these activities are not coordinated with one another. …[P]roblem solving may be ‘what we do on Fridays’;…formative assessments may focus on skills that are totally disconnected from the rest of the students’ curriculum. In these situations activities in the classroom are not aligned.” Bransford

50. Evolution of learning environments Co-operative learning