Rosemary Leary, Ph.D., EMCC
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My introduction to and subsequent adoption/ adaptation of PBL was somewhat serendipitous. Last year I was given the opportunity through the Maricopa Institute for Learning (MIL) to work on the development of different types of laboratory experiences for my science students, one that is more "problem" or "question" based and one that is not directed by a laboratory manual or instructor. The MIL Fellowship provided me the time and the means to try this approach in the Fundamentals of Chemistry Laboratory course (CHM 130 LL). It was through reading the literature and in conversations with others that I first learned of PBL and recognized that PBL provided a model that mirrored in many ways what I was trying to do in the chemistry classroom.
In PBL the problem is used to drive the learning. Problems are designed to appeal to the human desire for resolution and harmony and are usually something that the students want to solve or address. From the students' perspective it addresses the question "Why do I need to know this?" "How does it relate to the real world?" The problem must set up the need for and the context of the learning that follows.
This sample problem written for CHM 130 LL Course is a typical PBL problem.
You are currently employed by a major manufacturer of soaps and detergents. The company has spent several years in the development of a new product. This new product is almost ready to go to the market. However, before introducing the product to the public, management has requested one more set of tests. Your team has been asked to do a blind test on the product alongside several major competitors. They want to ensure that the prior data collected are not biased. You will not know which sample is the new product and which samples are other major selling soaps and detergents. Your results will be reported back to management who will then determine if, in fact, the new product has lived up to expectations. In order to ensure that your work is replicable, you are asked to follow recipes and protocols that the company has developed for testing soaps and detergents. These recipes and protocols will be provided to you.
The problem engages students actively and generates conversations concerning individual shopping habits, (i.e. why each person chooses the soap s/he purchases.) It also leads automatically to questions such as "What is the difference between a soap and a detergent?" "What makes a soap or detergent good?" and "How can we test this?"
Based on their conversations, students must decide how they will define "a good soap" in a way that they can both measure and test. They then must develop and implement a procedure, collect some data, determine what those data mean, and then relate their analysis and conclusion back both to their own research question and to the assignment they were given by the soap manufacturer. In the process, students learn about solutions, hard water, dissolved ions, soaps, detergents, titrations, and the use of both pipettes and burettes. They get the opportunity to make up their own solutions, something that is not routine in the typical introductory chemistry laboratory. And maybe more importantly, they learn that all laboratory problems are not resolved in a 3 hour time period.
The initial response of instructors and students to this type of lab experience has been positive. Students felt that they had learned a lot, both in terms of chemistry and in terms of general skills. A few students commented that the group work had provided them with skills that they had already directly applied in the workplace. Instructors noted deeper levels of student thinking and understanding. While the students grappled with the ideas behind the lab, they had to work for real understanding in order to design a procedure that would work and yield some meaningful data. This thinking and understanding was reflected in the level of questions asked, in the variety of procedures developed for each lab, and in the quality of the final written lab reports. In addition, student withdrawal rates and student grades were congruent with those in preceding semesters. While direct comparisons cannot be made, it does appear that there was no negative impact on grades, and it can be said that the format did not "chase" students away.
Why PBL in the chemistry laboratory? As stated by the National Research Council, "Learning science is something students do, not something that is done to them." PBL provides instructors with a tool to enable students to learn science.
FIPSE Team, Gateway Community College
In 1998, GateWay Community College (GWCC) received funding from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education to restructure its Facilities Systems Technician (FST) Associates Degree Program into a Problem-Based Learning (PBL) format. The goal of the project was to develop and implement a two-year training, cohort scheduled, integrated program in which students used problem-based learning to acquire all technical and general education skills needed for an Associate of Applied Science Degree and for work as FSTs in technology-based industries.
In the GWCC program, students do not take courses but fulfill degree competencies by working in learning teams to solve open-ended problems often encountered in the workplace. The program is designed to foster not only the acquisition of knowledge, but the development of effective skills for problem-solving, self-directed research and study, and team work.
A total of 11 multi-disciplinary problems have been designed which integrate all of the technical and general education competencies for the FST program. The design template for each problem includes a problem statement, list of products and performances to be evaluated, course competencies to be covered, and learning resources. Manuals for students and tutors have also been developed.
An example of one of the multi-disciplinary problems developed for the program follows:
"THE CORPORATION" must provide a refrigerant system trainer to its local operation and to its Japanese plant. Two trainers, an R22 and an MP39, have been acquired for this purpose. Your team has been asked to restore both trainers to operating condition and recommend, with justification, one for the US and one for Japan. Your team will be presenting this recommendation to the Japanese.
FIPSE Team
- Martha Bergin, Faculty, Sociology/Communication
- Shahin Berisha, Faculty, Mathematics
- Jackie Fergusson, Faculty, Science
- John Holmes, Faculty, Facilities
- Geri Rasmussen, Faculty, English/Communication/Humanities
- Elizabeth Skinner, Faculty, Reading/Communication
- Jim Staples, Faculty, Facilities
- Dean Stover, Faculty, English/Communication
- Steve Clayden, Faculty, Computer Science
- Fred Gaudet, Acting President
- Yvonne Zeka, Director Learning Center
- Maria Harper-Marinick, MCLI, Internal Evaluator
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