Lab Trial #3: Problem Based Learning

Question or Problem

How can I use a problem based learning approach in my classroom so that the students can think critically and solve real problems?

blog.engineeringstudents.org

...reading about problem solving approaches... hypothesizing that students will be engaged and thinking critically...

Testing the experiment

The lesson was on integrated pest management. Students haven't learned about IPM yet, but they have learned about pests and pesticide use. This lesson was to give them a feel of IPM and then have them reflect on what they did and how that aligns with the main steps of IPM. 

Soybean pest example

I told my students about a friend of mine that had a pest problem with her soybeans (not a real story). I showed them pictures of the situation and gave them a few resources. Ideally, there would be books and Agronomy guides, and computers at their finger tips that they could look at. I at least wanted to give them a list of potential answers so that they weren't overwhelmed with the possibilities. The students were to narrow down their search and figure out the potential pest. 

Analysis and results of data

I was super nervous for this lab. I don't think many teachers had given me liberty to solve problems in my lifetime, so it was not only new to me, but now I had to teach using it! Once the lab was done, however, I felt much better. My peers mentioned some tweaks, but for the most part their feedback was positive. 

One suggestion was to have some sort of a worksheet to guide their thoughts and notes. It would also have the question or situation they are trying to solve. I think that is a great idea for those visual learners. It probably would have clarified things a lot more.

incolors.club

Another suggestion was just making sure the situation I was presenting was logical. I tried to do my research as I was preparing for this lab, but I am by no means an expert on pests or soybeans so it was challenging. I tried to think of as many questions as possible and find those answers beforehand, but it was hard to know what they were going to ask. That was part of my fear in going into this lesson. However, I think I handled those moments of uncertainty very well. 

Another thing that was interesting was as I was trying to play along with the story (pretending that I didn't know the answer when I knew full well what the answer was for the sake of the mystery), one of the students made the comment about how if I don't know the answer, how could they trust me? How could they figure it out? I tried to turn it back to them and say that with my knowledge and their help, we can figure it out together. I wonder if there is a better way to respond to this. How do I maintain my credibility, but go along with the story. Should I tell them that I know, but I want to see if they could figure it out? I feel if I did that, they would give up when it got hard, and just wait for me to tell them the answer. 

Conclusion

I think with much more practice, I could become good at PBL. I certainly see the benefit, and I think that's how more classrooms should be. I just need to get myself into that mindset and turn the reigns over to my students every once in a while. 

deeringbanjos.com

Leaving Thought

"Vulnerability is strength"--Cheryl Strayed

Weekly Vitamins: A Dose of Problem Based Learning

This week, we read all about Problem Based Learning (PBL). The readings were great materials to prepare us for our lab on PBL. Hearing about PBL initially sounds scary... letting students basically research and find the answers, sometimes based off of little prior knowledge. What if it takes some students longer than others to figure it out? What if they begin asking questions about things that I don't know about? How do you prepare information about a topic/lesson when the students are the ones driving the class? How do you make objectives and prepare assessments when you don't know what exactly the students will discover?

tonex.com

Perhaps I have so much apprehension and concern about PBL because I haven't been forced to do it much in my years of school. I've been handed the information, books, articles, texts to learn. I've been given instructions and haven't been given much liberty to think on my own or truly grasp the impact my thoughts and research can play into learning and education. I know there has to be an effective way to get to answer my questions--I suppose I just have to do a little problem solving on my own to figure that out. 

Using knowledge to guide

innovationmanagement.se

In the article Principles of Teaching Problem Solving, they talked a little about the knowledge of the learner. They mentioned declarative knowledge which is the facts, concepts, and principles students learn. Procedural knowledge deals with problem-solving and structure of the learning. Teaching both at the same time or crossing back and forth can be extremely effective. 

I think this starts to ease some of my worries as I wrap my head around PBL. I thought that teachers had to first teach the declarative knowledge and then do the procedural, or that they might introduce a subject with the procedural knowledge and then they would fill in the rest of the information with the declarative knowledge. While there may be some cases where this might be most effective, knowing that it can also be done together is also really helpful. Maybe the teacher introduces a few key terms and then has students work. When a student encounters a question or even specific information, the teacher might then give more declarative knowledge and send the students on their way to discovering more. 

Impact of situation in students' lives

If the students don't see the connect to their own lives or reality, they won't see the need to learn. That, or they will only learn "for the test". PBL, I think, really helps them see that understanding the situation and solutions can be important for their lives and careers. They can also apply and practice what they are learning instead of always regurgitating the information. 

In the article, 8 Essentials for Problem Based Learning, it gives some tips about using it most effectively in the classroom. 

socialimpact.wharton.upenn.edu

Having a captivating interest approach, and identifying an essential question that they are to solve are two main ways to begin the process. Essential questions or driving questions should be open-ended, complex, and linked to the core problem. The author compared it to a thesis in a research paper. Without it, there wouldn't be much direction.

Student choice is also important. Students shouldn't have full control of the reigns, but should be given options what and how. Let them decide how to present the information. Let them ask the questions, and don't heavily place criteria on them. As long as it relates to the goal of the driving question and the teacher can see that the student is understanding the content, the other portions of the assignment(s) are secondary.

Additional readings

I found some sources that organize the process of PBL. Worth reading! I think it helped facilitate the process in an organized manner. It pulls in a lot of the ideas from the reading, but has some other nice tips.

http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/problem-based-learning-tips-ideas.shtml

http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/problem-based-learning-real-world.shtml

Leaving Thought

"Great things are done by a series of small things brought together" -- Vincent van Gogh

Weekly Vitamins: The supplements to teaching techniques

Weekly Vitamins: The supplements to teaching techniques

Periodically, we have readings about various topics relating to education. These materials are meant to give us the extra information and promote further research or discussion about the topic. They give us the extra boost we need to strengthen our teaching bones and energize our brain. This week we read:

Warnick, B., Straquadine, G., Elliot, J., Knight, J. A., Rudd, R., Deeds, J. P., Swortzel, K. A., Nevin, N. A., Knobloch, N. A., Miller, G., Whittington, M. S., Connors, J., Boone, H. N., Boone, D. A., Gartin, S. A. (2005) The Science of Teaching. Agricultural Education Magazine, 77:4, 5-28.

Vaugh, P.R. (n.d.) Effective teaching: Notes for the Beginning Teacher. Retrieved from

http://www.casnr.unl.edu/aps/teachman.pdf

Wong, H.K. & Wong, R.T. (2009). The first days of school: How to be an effective teacher (4th ed.). Mountain View: Harry K. Wong Publications, Inc.

Structure makes the world go 'round

These sources were a compilation of multiple articles expressing the need for teachers do perform various different tasks or portray certain characteristics. For the most part, the articles provided a reassurance to what I have learned in my classes previously. However there were a few that sparked my interest. 

steelstructures.co.za

One of the points I made note of was structure. In The Science of Teaching, it said that having structure makes students be more on-task and keeps them focused. Learning goals and objectives are good ways to give students structure. Doing something that is familar to them and getting into a routine will not only ensure better classroom management, but will get their minds going in the right direction as they enter into the classroom and begin to learn.

Along with this, the article also says that teachers should use motivation and praise (of course). They talk about criticism and how researchers observed that praise usually is met with better scores, better understanding, etc. while criticism is met with lower scores and less motivation. I was about to argue (in my head, of course) that criticism can be a good thing when I saw the next line talking about how teachers should still give "academic direction". I thought that was brilliant. The word criticism is usually seen as a negative word, but giving academic direction means doing what is needed to keep students focused and on track with their learning. I think it brings a whole new meaning to what people have always termed as "constructive criticism".

Problem solving methods

businessenglishhq.com

Just telling me that I should incorporate problem solving skills in my classroom is great but how? With such a broad and over-used term as "problem solving", I think people assume that everyone knows how to use it, or even how to teach with it. So when I read about it in The Science of Teaching and saw specific examples on how to use it, I made note of it all. There were several so I won't  explain them all, but it made me realize that just like there may be more than one solution to a problem, there may be more than one way to go about solving the problem as well. Perhaps its comparing your current state to the goal you wish to reach. How do you get to your goal? Maybe the method is choosing between choices and deciding on which choice is more important in that moment for what you are trying to accomplish. I would like to incorporate these methods into my teaching but I want to use the appropriate type of problem solving method for what I want my students to eventually understand.

Growth for student learning

I loved reading about the two questions for opportunities for student learning in The Science of Teaching. The first one asks "Did the teacher give equal opportunity based on learning styles and needs?" and the second one then asks "Did the student show the teacher what they learned?". These two questions coupled together bring the whole lesson full circle. Not only does it focus on whether the teacher was adaptive, variable, and patient, but it also checks whether or not at the end of the day did those methods and adaptations work and can your students walk away saying that they learned something new?

I also really liked in Wong's The first days of school article how Wong made a point that there is a difference between efficient and effective teaching. Efficient is doing things right. Effective is repeatedly doing the right thing. We can teach our students to be effective in what they are doing and how they can continue those skills even after they leave the classroom.

Top ten

Rosenshine and Furst was a pair that I recalled learning about previously and was mentioned a lot of out the three articles. Vaugh takes the time to go through each of their top ten characteristics of teachers. After participating in our RTL experiences, I find it funny how many of these same traits we mentioned we could improve on were in this list. 

1. Clarity

2. Variability

3. Enthusiasm

4. Task-oriented/ Business-like behavior

5. Positive reinforcement

6. Student opportunity to learn

7. Avoid criticism

8. Structuring comments

9. Effective questioning

10. Humor

Most of these were stated in the other articles that were read above, but I liked how they were a little more drawn out in Vaugh's article. I also thought it was interesting as I reflected on the order that Rosenshine and Furst placed the traits. Clarity being the number one trait of effective teachers means that students really value when assignments, deadlines, key information, and more are made clear. I can completely understand this being a top frustration. When I walk out of my classes and don't know what the teacher expects of me or wants me to do, or when I am still unsure of deadlines, it creates a frustrating situation. It will be something for me to keep in mind that I should spend extra time on complex subjects, or take a few extra minutes to go over the project guidelines. I shouldn't assume that students understand what I said or that a rubric will be enough explanation for them to start a project.

Related resources

On one of my favorite sites (Pinterest) I came across this fun little pin about icebreakers to do on the first day of school. There are some really good ones in here that students will be more eager to do (they're not your typical 2 truths and a lie.. yuck!)

http://www.cultofpedagogy.com/classroom-icebreakers/

These could also be useful for other activities throughout the year!

pitt.edu

I was really interested in the problem solving parts of the articles for this assignment, so I tried to do a little more exploring. 

http://edtechreview.in/trends-insights/insights/771-great-ways-to-teach-skills-like-critical-thinking-and-problem-solving

I came across this article which shares some neat things about teaching critical thinking and problem solving. But I loved the probing Einstein example towards the end which explains that given an hour to solve a hard problem, Einstein would spend 55 minutes figuring out solutions and alternatives, and 5 minutes to actually solve it. I am eager to see what that kind of mentality would look like in a classroom and how much more it would benefit students. It would force them to not just try and solve the problem and get it done with, but figure out whether there was more than one way or if the initial solution would work all the time and if there were alternatives. Something to chew on!