This article covers problem-based learning, an active learning strategy. To read an overview of active learning, see the Defining Active Learning and Choosing a Strategy article in the "Related Articles" section on the right side of this page.
Level of Difficulty: High - This strategy will require significant effort for the instructor to set up.
Bloom’s Taxonomy Level: Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation
What is problem-based learning?
Problem-based learning is a student-centered approach to learning in which students learn about a subject by working in groups to solve and open-ended problem. Sometimes it’s called Project-Based Learning, but Project-Based Learning is also used to describe the whole class of this type of activity including Authentic Learning and Challenge-Based Learning. Here’s what students will do in a PBL exercise:
- Examine and define the problem.
- Explore what they already know about underlying issues related to it.
- Determine what they need to learn and where they can acquire the information and tools necessary to solve the problem.
- Evaluate possible ways to solve the problem.
- Solve the problem.
- Report on their findings.
Problems can be either short or long, taking multiple class periods or weeks to complete. Depending upon the task set for the students, this can sit a a variety of levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Consider the level of learning you are looking for when creating your project.
How do I use it?
- Articulate the learning outcomes of the project. What do you want students to know or be able to do as a result of participating in the assignment?
- Create the problem. Ideally, this will be a real-world situation that resembles something students may encounter in their future careers or lives. Cases are often the basis of PBL activities.
- Establish ground rules at the beginning to prepare students to work effectively in groups.
- Introduce students to group processes and do some warm up exercises to allow them to practice assessing both their own work and that of their peers.
- Consider having students take on different roles or divide up the work up amongst themselves. Alternatively, the project might require students to assume various perspectives, such as those of government officials, local business owners, etc.
- Establish how you will evaluate and assess the assignment. Consider making the assessments students make of their own work and that of their peers part of the assignment grade.
Variations
Authentic Learning
Applying knowledge to real-world problems that mimic the work of professionals in the field and then report their findings to an audience beyond the classroom.
Challenge-Based Learning
Identify real-life situations or issues and put the students to work on them using collaborative learning. This involves the students finding both the problem and the solution, so the activity is self-directed and typically takes an entire semester to solve. The students then reflect on and publish their findings to a worldwide audience. Some of these projects fail, and that is okay. It’s the research and the findings that are important here.