Problem-based learningJean Jacoby

Manawatu Centre for Teaching and Learning

Steps in PBL1. Encounter and reason through the problem

2. Define and bound the problem and set learning goals

3. Self-directed study to complete learning, gather resources, and prepare reports for group

4. Share learning with group, revisit problem, generate and review hypotheses

5. Summarise and integrate learning.

The role of the facilitator

In PBL the facilitator is an expert learner, able to model good strategies for learning and thinking, rather than providing expertise in specific content. This role is critical, as the facilitator must continually monitor the discussion, selecting and implementing appropriate strategies as needed. As students become more experienced with PBL, facilitators can fade their scaffolding until finally the learners adopt much of their questioning role.

(Hmelo-Silver & Barrows, 2006, p. 24)

• Facilitating collaborative knowledge construction.• Facilitating the students’ development of thinking

or reasoning skills that promote problem solving, metacognition, and critical thinking.

• Helping students to become independent and self-directed learners.

Effective facilitators“Students deemed tutors as effective and helpful when they encouraged students to critically evaluate the information gathered, questioned and probed the students’ clinical reasoning processes, and, most importantly, allowed students to control the learning process.”

(Hung, Jonassen & Liu, n.d. p. 494)

Skills for facilitators• Elicitation • Re-elicitation• Prompting• Refocusing• Facilitating• Evaluating• Summarising• Giving feedback• Informing• Directing learning

Challenges for facilitators

Cognitive congruence is communication skills defined as “the ability to express oneself in the language of the students, using the concepts they use and explaining things in ways easily grasped by students” (Schmidt and Moust, 1995, p.709).

• The temptation to lecture• Facilitating group processes• Modelling metacognition skills• Concern for content over process• Relinquishing control• Being too passive• Providing feedback• Managing assessment

Tips for facilitators• Find out what skills your students already have

(information gathering, collaboration, etc.)• Teach group work skills and processes

Strategies for facilitating small groups

Objectives• Review the process of planning a small group

teaching session• Identify the challenges of teaching in small groups• Discuss the characteristics of an effective small-

group facilitator• Apply some of the strategies used within small

group teaching

Jacques, 2003, p. 492

What is your experience of teaching (or learning) in small groups?

Group round method• Each person has 30 seconds say something. • The first person chooses who should go

second, the second who should go third, and so on.

What are the characteristics of an effective small group facilitator?

• Define expectations• Tell the students up front how you are going to run

things and what you expect• Goes over what you are looking for in grading if

relevant• Goes over the objectives at the beginning• Nurtures a safe group• Sets an example with his/her own behaviour

(important in ethics discussions)

• Is willing share own experiences, where appropriate• Steps in if the discussion crosses boundaries• Manages time• Guides the discussion rather than steal the show• Promotes independent discussion.

What situations are suitable for small-group facilitation?

• Case discussions• Problem-based learning• Role play• Open discussion• Briefing and debriefing following a clinical or

practical learning session

What problems can arise?

• You give a lecture rather than conducting a dialogue

• You talk too much• Students will not talk to each other, but will only

respond to questions from you• Students do not prepare for the sessions• One student dominates or blocks the discussion• The students want to be given the solutions to

problems rather than discuss them

How would you manage them?

Engaging the unengaged student

Uninterested or unengaged?

Constructive alignment + backwash = engagement

ReferencesHmelo-Silver, C. E. , & Barrows, H. S. (2006). Goals and Strategies of a Problem-based Learning Facilitator. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-based Learning, 1(1), 21-39.

Hung, W., Jonassen, D. H., & Liu, R. (2008). Problem-based learning. In J. M. Spector, J. G. van Merriënboer, M. D., Merrill, & M. Driscoll (Eds.), Handbook of research on educational communications and technology (3rd ed., pp. 485-506). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Jacques, D. (2003). Teaching small groups. British Medical Journal, 326, pp. 492-494

Steinert, Y. (2004). Student perceptions of effective small group teaching. Medical Education, 38 pp. 286–293