Problem-based learning facts for kids

A PBL group at Sydney Dental Hospital

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a way of learning where students solve real-world problems. It's a student-focused method. Instead of just listening to a teacher, students work together to figure things out. This helps them learn new things, work well in groups, and communicate better.

PBL started in medical education and is now used in many other subjects. It helps students develop skills they will use in their future jobs. These skills include thinking critically, finding information, and learning continuously in a team.

In PBL, students often work in small groups. Each student might have a role, which can change. The main idea is for students to think and reflect to build their own understanding.

The "Maastricht seven-jump process" is a common way to do PBL. It involves steps like understanding the problem, brainstorming ideas, setting learning goals, studying on your own, and then discussing what you found. Basically, you figure out what you know, what you need to know, and how to find that new information.

The teacher's job is to guide and support the learning process. They help students feel confident when solving problems and deepen their understanding. This method is different from traditional lecture-based teaching. PBL needs more planning and resources than regular classes because it uses small group learning.

What PBL Means

PBL uses real-life situations to help you learn and understand new things. Here are the main ideas of this learning method:

• You set your own learning goals.
• You study on your own before meeting with your group.
• Learning happens in small groups (8–10 people) with a teacher who helps guide discussions.
• You use real-life examples like stories, lab data, photos, articles, or videos.
• The "Maastricht 7-jump process" helps guide your learning.
• It's based on how people learn best by doing.
• Everyone in the group has a part to play.
• You gain knowledge by working together and sharing ideas.
• It improves teamwork, communication, and problem-solving skills. These are important for your future.
• Anyone can use this method if it fits the situation.

The Maastricht 7-jump process has seven steps:

• Discuss the case and make sure everyone understands the problem.
• Figure out what questions need to be answered to solve the case.
• Brainstorm what the group already knows and think of possible solutions.
• Organize and structure the ideas from the brainstorming session.
• Decide what new things you need to learn to solve the problem.
• Study on your own or in smaller groups. This means reading, doing activities, or attending talks to get the needed knowledge.
• Discuss what you found with your group.

How PBL Started

PBL was first developed by Howard Barrows and Tamblyn at McMaster University in Canada in the 1960s. Students in traditional medical schools often felt that what they learned didn't connect to real medical practice. PBL was created to make learning more interesting and show students how their studies would apply to their future jobs. It helped students stay motivated and learn the importance of teamwork and responsibility.

Since then, PBL has been used in many other fields, not just medicine. It's used in health sciences, math, law, education, economics, business, social studies, and engineering. PBL often involves problems that can be solved in many different ways, and sometimes there's more than one right answer.

In 1974, Aalborg University in Denmark started using PBL for all its programs. Today, its 20,000 students still learn using PBL ideas.

Good Things About PBL

PBL has many benefits. It focuses on the student, which helps you learn actively and remember things better. It also helps you develop useful life skills. PBL can improve your knowledge while also building skills like communication, problem-solving, critical thinking, teamwork, and learning on your own.

Better Student Learning

In PBL, students are actively involved and usually enjoy this method. It helps you learn actively and remember things for a long time. It also encourages you to learn on your own by giving you problems to solve.

Learning for Life

PBL helps you learn throughout your life. It teaches you how to set your own goals, find good learning materials, and take responsibility for what you need to know. This also helps you remember information better in the long run.

Focus on Understanding, Not Just Facts

PBL helps students find solutions to real-life problems. Instead of just listening to lectures, you discuss ideas and do research together.

Deeper Learning

PBL helps you learn by interacting with the learning materials. You connect new ideas to everyday activities, which improves your knowledge. You also use what you already know to build new understanding.

Boosts Self-Learning

When students solve problems themselves, they become more interested and responsible for their learning. They will look for resources like articles, journals, and books. This makes them better at finding information than students in traditional classes.

Better Understanding and Skills

PBL helps you understand subjects better because it focuses on the meaning and use of learning materials. When you are given challenging problems, you become more skilled. Real-life problems make your learning deeper and help you use your skills and knowledge from the classroom in the real world.

Stronger Teamwork Skills

PBL is all about teamwork and collaborative learning. Groups work together to solve problems, which improves student interaction and interpersonal skills. You learn to work with others, make decisions together, and give helpful feedback.

More Motivation

Many students prefer PBL classes over traditional ones. Their higher attendance and positive attitude show they are more motivated. PBL is often more flexible and interesting, making it a fun learning environment. Students feel less pressure and can learn independently, which makes them more motivated to keep learning even after school.

Better Teacher-Student Relationships

Teachers who have taught in both traditional and PBL settings often prefer PBL. They feel it's more helpful for students' thinking and growth.

Higher Level of Learning

PBL students often score higher than students in traditional courses in areas like problem-solving and self-assessment. This is because they are better at using what they already know. They also learn in situations similar to their future jobs, which helps them understand and remember information better.

Challenges of PBL

PBL also has some challenges. It needs more resources and teachers to guide discussions. Some teachers find guiding PBL groups difficult. It also needs more physical space and computers for small group learning. Students sometimes feel overwhelmed by too much information and aren't sure how much to study.

Takes More Time

While students generally like PBL, teachers often need more time to check student learning and prepare materials compared to traditional teaching. This can be frustrating because of the time spent presenting new research and brainstorming ideas.

Student Expectations

One challenge is that students might be used to teachers giving them all the information. Because of this, they might find it hard to explore and wonder about things on their own at first.

Teacher's Role

Teachers need to change how they teach for PBL. Their job is to ask questions, give hints, and guide students' research. This new role can be difficult for some teachers to get used to.

Student Evaluation

Teachers also need new ways to grade students. They might use written tests with different types of questions, practical exams, and peer or self-assessments.

Demands of Starting PBL

Starting PBL in schools needs a lot of planning, organization, and resources. It involves preparing teachers, designing new lessons, training guides, and changing how students are graded. It also means having the right learning spaces and continuously checking how well it works.

Cultural Differences

In some parts of Asia, students found it hard to participate in PBL discussions. This might be because they are shy or feel forced to speak since they are being graded. Some students also felt they didn't have enough confidence to find information on their own. They also found it took too much time, especially if they still had traditional classes. Language could also be a problem if discussions were in English, which wasn't their main language.

How PBL Builds Knowledge

PBL helps students learn how to learn throughout their lives by asking questions and building their own understanding. It's a way of teaching that focuses on teamwork and self-directed learning, with teachers guiding the process.

Here's how it works:

• Students get a problem and discuss it in their group, using what they already know.
• They come up with ideas or guesses to explain the problem. They also figure out what they need to research. Teachers provide a framework to help students build knowledge.
• After the group work, students study independently to research the topics they identified.
• The students meet again to discuss what they found and improve their initial ideas based on what they learned.

A PBL group at Gadjah Mada University

In PBL, the teacher guides and challenges the learning process instead of just giving out facts. Students are active learners who build knowledge together. PBL helps students connect what they learn in theory to real-life situations when solving problems.

Evidence That PBL Works

Many studies show that PBL and inquiry-based learning methods are successful. For example, one study found that students using a science software program that encouraged inquiry learned much more than other students.

Another study looked at middle school students and found that inquiry-based teaching greatly improved their test scores. It also helped reduce the learning gap for some students.

A review of studies on medical students showed that PBL helped doctors become more skilled after graduation. This was especially true for skills like handling uncertainty and communicating.

A study in Slovenia found that students who learned with PBL were better at solving difficult math problems.

Examples in Schools

Malaysia and Singapore

In Malaysia, a PBL model called PBL4C was introduced in secondary math classes. The goal was to help students make good decisions for a sustainable future.

In Singapore, Republic Polytechnic is a great example. It was the first polytechnic to use PBL for all its courses.

Medical Schools

Many medical schools now use PBL, following the lead of McMaster University Medical School. They use real patient cases to teach students how to think like doctors. Over 80% of medical schools in the United States now use some form of PBL. Research from the University of Missouri School of Medicine shows that PBL helps students become better doctors after they graduate.

In 1998, Western University of Health Sciences opened its veterinary school, which is completely based on PBL.

Ecological Economics

The field of ecological economics uses PBL a lot. They break down problem-solving into four steps: building the problem, analyzing it, putting the findings together, and sharing the results.

Other Good Results

One main goal of PBL is to help students learn to learn on their own. This means students take charge of finding what they need to learn, setting goals, finding resources, and checking their own progress. When students are involved in their learning, they become more responsible for it.

Studies have shown that PBL helps students stay motivated, connect with their studies, develop thinking skills, and make more progress than students in traditional classes. PBL encourages students to explore and discover, which is key to this learning method.

PBL is also thought to improve critical thinking skills. Students learn to analyze problems, find important facts, come up with ideas, identify needed information, and make good decisions to solve problems.

Employers like that PBL students develop good communication, teamwork, and collaboration skills. These skills are very important for future jobs. PBL helps build these skills through learning, writing, talking, and solving problems.

Learning with Computers

Computer-supported PBL, or ePBL, can be an online version of traditional PBL. It can also be an online group activity for people who are far apart. ePBL lets you add audio and videos to cases, which makes learning more engaging.

Online PBL can be more affordable. Group activities are very important for social interaction in PBL, whether online or in person. Collaborative PBL has been shown to improve critical thinking and student achievement.

For teachers, designing online PBL needs to focus on teamwork. Problems should be real-life, and the technology used must be reliable.

Tools for Online PBL

Teamwork Tools

The first step in PBL is understanding the problem. Everyone in the group needs to agree on the problem's details. This happens through teamwork and discussion. Online tools help groups work together from anywhere, at any time.

Learning management systems (LMS) like Canvas, Edmodo, Moodle, and Schoology offer tools for online communication and learning. Cloud-based tools like Google Apps and Office 365 also allow collaboration. These tools help students brainstorm and plan their research.

Research Tools

Once the problem is clear, students gather information. They research the problem and possible solutions. The most common online tool for this is Google, but there are many other search engines. Libraries also offer online databases with articles and books. Wolframalpha.com is a smart search engine that provides answers based on data and calculations.

Presentation Tools

The final step in PBL is solving the problem and presenting your solution. You need to clearly explain the problem, your process, and how you solved it using facts. Technology makes presentations easier and more effective with visuals like charts, pictures, and videos.

Popular presentation tools include Microsoft PowerPoint, Apple Keynote, Prezi, and Google Slides. Some tools offer many features for interactive presentations, like PowerPoint. Others, like Prezi, offer a storytelling style. Simple web-based tools like Google Slides are free and easy to use, allowing students to focus more on their ideas than on technical details.

P⁵BL Approach

P⁵BL stands for People, Problem, Process, Product, and Project Based Learning.

This approach started at Stanford School of Engineering in 1993. It was designed to help engineering, architecture, and construction students work together on projects. Students from different fields worked in teams to solve a problem and create a final product for a client.

The main goal of P⁵BL is to help students develop skills by working across different subjects. It prepares them for real-life work. Teachers and industry experts guide the teams, helping them learn teamwork and solve problems.

Key benefits of P⁵BL are:

• It helps students understand real-world problems.
• It boosts their confidence in solving problems.
• It improves their networking skills.
• It teaches them the value of teamwork in an educational setting.
• It helps them appreciate how different subjects can work together.

This method needs good guidance from mentors to help students reach their project goals. Open and helpful communication within the team is also important for success.

See also

In Spanish: Aprendizaje basado en problemas para niños

• Discovery learning
• Educational psychology
• Learning by teaching (LdL)
• POGIL
• Phenomenon-based learning
• Project-based learning
• 21st century skills