Peter Rillero, M. Koerner, Margarita Jiménez-Silva, Joi D. Merritt, W. Farr
{"title":"Developing teacher competencies for problem-based learning pedagogy and for supporting learning in language-minority students","authors":"Peter Rillero, M. Koerner, Margarita Jiménez-Silva, Joi D. Merritt, W. Farr","doi":"10.7771/1541-5015.1675","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7771/1541-5015.1675","url":null,"abstract":"Teachers need to be able to design and implement problem-based learning (PBL) experiences to help students master the content and the processes in new mathematics and science education standards. Due to the changed population of learners within schools, it is also critically important that teachers in the elementary grades have the abilities to work effectively with English language learners (ELL). This article discusses the implementation of a major initiative by our teachers college to achieve both of these goals through Problem-Based Enhanced Language Learning (PBELL), which combines PBL, enhanced opportunities for language, and ELL methods. The implementation began with a small group of faculty members developing and piloting PBELL experiences, with coaching spread throughout the program. Our student-teachers are graduating with multiple opportunities to experience PBELL as learners and to design and implement PBELL experiences.","PeriodicalId":46380,"journal":{"name":"Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning","volume":"11 1","pages":"4"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2017-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42342800","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Joi D. Merritt, Mi Yeon Lee, Peter Rillero, Barbara M. Kinach
{"title":"Problem-Based Learning in K–8 Mathematics and Science Education: A Literature Review","authors":"Joi D. Merritt, Mi Yeon Lee, Peter Rillero, Barbara M. Kinach","doi":"10.7771/1541-5015.1674","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7771/1541-5015.1674","url":null,"abstract":"This systematic literature review was conducted to explore the effectiveness of problem-based and project-based learning (PBL) implemented with students in early elementary to grade 8 (ages 3–14) in mathematics and science classrooms. Nine studies met the following inclusion criteria: (a) focus on PBL, (b) experimental study, (c) kindergarten to grade 8 level, and (d) focus on mathematics or science content. For these studies, we examined: the definitions of PBL used, the components of PBL explicitly identified as salient to student learning, and the effectiveness of PBL. This review found that although there is no consistent definition of PBL, PBL is an effective method for improving K–8 students’ science academic achievement, including knowledge retention, conceptual development, and attitudes. Implications and limitations are discussed.","PeriodicalId":46380,"journal":{"name":"Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning","volume":" ","pages":"3"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2017-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44569842","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Problem-Based Learning Pedagogy Fosters Students’ Critical Thinking About Writing","authors":"Rita Kumar, B. Refaei","doi":"10.7771/1541-5015.1670","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7771/1541-5015.1670","url":null,"abstract":"Convinced of the power of PBL to promote students’ critical thinking as demonstrated by its application across disciplines, we designed a series of problems for students in a second-year writing course. We collected samples of their writing before and after implementation of the problems. We were concerned about whether PBL pedagogy would negatively influence second-year students’ writing. However, our preliminary findings suggest that students’ critical thinking about writing improved with the use of PBL pedagogy.","PeriodicalId":46380,"journal":{"name":"Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning","volume":"11 1","pages":"1"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2017-05-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46966357","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Integrating Web 2.0 technologies into face-to-face PBL to support producing, storing, and sharing content in a higher education course","authors":"Jaana Virtanen, Päivi Rasi","doi":"10.7771/1541-5015.1613","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7771/1541-5015.1613","url":null,"abstract":"In this article we present and discuss the process of developing and implementing a PBL-based course entitled Moving Images in Teaching and Learning that was held at the University of Lapland, Finland. In the course of the project, this fairly traditional face-to-face course was redesigned into a blended PBL course by integrating Web 2.0 applications into the course. The pedagogical rationale was to support students’ meaningful learning in various phases of the PBL process, and to enable easy storage and sharing of the ideas produced by the students. In addition, the rationale was to create more opportunities for students to report on their process during their independent knowledge acquisition phase and for the teacher to monitor and support students’ information searching processes. We focus mainly on students’ experiences of the implementation and conclude with ideas about our next steps.","PeriodicalId":46380,"journal":{"name":"Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning","volume":"11 1","pages":"5"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2017-01-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46017153","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Problem-Based Learning in Engineering Ethics Courses","authors":"R. Kirkman","doi":"10.7771/1541-5015.1610","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7771/1541-5015.1610","url":null,"abstract":"I describe the first stages of a process of design research in which I employ problem-based learning in a course in engineering ethics, which fulfills a requirement for students in engineering degree programs. The aim of the course is to foster development of particular cognitive skills contributing to moral imagination, a capacity to notice, respond to, and think about basic values in open-ended problem situations. In the course, groups of students develop their own problem situations based on their experience and expertise in engineering practice, then respond to those situations through a guided process of inquiry and problem solving designed to focus their attention on basic ethical values. I close with observations on the process of designing the course, laying the groundwork for subsequent formal assessment.","PeriodicalId":46380,"journal":{"name":"Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning","volume":" ","pages":"4"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2017-01-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43527385","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Julie A. Edmunds, N. Arshavsky, E. Glennie, Karen J. Charles, O. Rice
{"title":"The Relationship between Project-Based Learning and Rigor in STEM-Focused High Schools.","authors":"Julie A. Edmunds, N. Arshavsky, E. Glennie, Karen J. Charles, O. Rice","doi":"10.7771/1541-5015.1618","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7771/1541-5015.1618","url":null,"abstract":"Project-based learning (PjBL) is an approach often favored in STEM classrooms, yet some studies have shown that teachers struggle to implement it with academic rigor. This paper explores the relationship between PjBL and rigor in the classrooms of ten STEM-oriented high schools. Utilizing three different data sources reflecting three different perceptions—student surveys, teacher logs, and classroom observations—the study examines the extent to which PjBL and rigor co-occur. Across all three measures, the results show that use of PjBL is associated with higher levels of rigor. However, the study also shows that academic rigor can be present in the absence of PjBL, and that PjBL can be implemented with low levels of rigor. The paper concludes with implications for practice.","PeriodicalId":46380,"journal":{"name":"Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning","volume":"11 1","pages":"3"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2017-01-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41881309","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
V. Skinner, Annette Braunack-Mayer, Tracey A. Winning
{"title":"Another Piece of the \"Silence in PBL\" Puzzle: Students' Explanations of Dominance and Quietness as Complementary Group Roles","authors":"V. Skinner, Annette Braunack-Mayer, Tracey A. Winning","doi":"10.7771/1541-5015.1607","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7771/1541-5015.1607","url":null,"abstract":"A problem-based learning (PBL) assumption is that silence is incompatible with collaborative learning. Although sociocultural studies have reinterpreted silence as collaborative, we must understand how silence occurs in PBL groups. This essay presents students’ explanations of dominance, leadership, and silence as PBL group roles. An ethnographic investigation of PBL groups, informed by social constructionism, was conducted at two dental schools (in Australia and Ireland). The methods used were observation, interviews, and focus groups. The participants were volunteer first-year undergraduates. Students attributed dominance, silence, and members’ group roles to personal attributes. Consequently, they assumed that groups divided naturally into dominant leaders and silent followers. Sometimes silence had a collaborative learning function, but it was also due to social exclusion. This assumption enabled social practices that privileged some group members and marginalized others. Power and participation in decision making in PBL groups was restricted to dominant group members.","PeriodicalId":46380,"journal":{"name":"Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning","volume":"10 1","pages":"8"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2016-10-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43435470","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Systematizing Scaffolding for Problem-Based Learning: A View from Case-Based Reasoning.","authors":"Andrew A. Tawfik, J. Kolodner","doi":"10.7771/1541-5015.1608","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7771/1541-5015.1608","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46380,"journal":{"name":"Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning","volume":"10 1","pages":"6"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2016-05-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47597442","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}