Post on 14-Jan-2016
•Level of course and maturity of students
•Time frame
•Staging
•Availability and access to learning resources
•Use of prompting questions
•Role of problem in accomplishing course objectives
Important Considerations in Writing Problems
Types of Learning Objectives
Content-oriented: subject specific– Basic knowledge and understanding of specific
concepts, techniques, etc. in the discipline
Process-oriented: global skills– Effective communication: oral and written
– Acquiring and evaluating information
– Working effectively with others
– Higher order, critical thinking
What Factors Influence DecisionsAbout Problems?
Who is the problem writer?- discipline
- control issues
- level of investment
What is the course?- students (number and level)
- sequencing of course/problems
- time/structure of class
Two Schemes for Writing Problems:
1. Think of one or more learning objectives in your course
2. Name a realistic application of the concept(s). Outline a scenario.
1. Think of a realistic scenario from the news, a film, a popular press article, or from a research controversy.
2. What learning objectives for your course are evident in the scenario?
Assignment for groups or individuals – pick a scheme and complete Steps 1 & 2. When finished, share your ideas with your neighbors
Physics Example
Traditional examples:• Pool balls colliding• Bullets hitting blocks of
wood
Course Objective:Conservation of Momentum
Not very good material for a motivational PBL problem!
Traditional End-of-Chapter Problem
A 1500-kg car traveling east with a speed of 25 m/s collides at an intersection with a 2500-kg van traveling north at a speed of 20 m/s. Find the direction and magnitude of the velocity of the wreckage after the collision, assuming that the vehicles undergo a perfectly inelastic collision (ie, they stick together).
Serway and Faughn. 3rd ed. College Physics, Saunders, 1992.
Not much improvement, critical thinking-wise, but more promising as the basis for a good story, good PBL problem.
A Real Traffic Accident
• Based on police sketch
• Students need to make assumptions and approximations
• Information given
gradually
throughout problem
Some Ideas for the Real-World Context
Ideas:• Add story-telling to end-of-chapter problem.• Add motivation, require students to go beyond
rote learning, do research.• Include decision-making. • Other?
Name a realistic application of the concept.
Outline a scenario.
Sources and Strategies for Writing Problems
Newspaper articles, news events
Popular press in the discipline
Make up a story – based on content objectives
Adapt a case to a problem
Research papers
Other?
Step Three:Outline the problem
Suggestions:• Good PBL problem has multi-page, multi-stage
construction - leave students guessing!• Not all information given in chapter or text -
students look for resources.• Challenge students to come to consensus, reach
conclusions, and make judgments.
Outline the problem stages – write a “story board”
John Henry - Traffic Cop
Stage 1: What questions need to be answered? What measurements, data? What physics principles? Then initial introduction to momentum.
Stage 2: Sketch given, some information given; students analyze and ask questions.
Stage 3: Outline procedure, make assumptions, Apply concepts.
Stage 4: Make judgment and rationalize decision based on physics principles
What’s Ahead:Next Problem Writing Step (4)
Continue to draft the storyline beyond a sketchy scenario – begin to write the first stageThink about point-of-view, nature of the end-of-stage questions, suitability for ‘audience,’ alignment with problem and course objectives
Writing PBL Problems Start with a Story Start with the Concepts
Research Research
What concepts are Look for the story to use involved?
Research the Problem
First Draft (Point of view, focus, appropriateness for audience, staging,
objectives nature of the end-of-stage questions)
Research, Draft II (refine)
Teaching
Draft III From C. F. Herreid, SUNY Buffalo & W. Welty, Pace University
Types of Knowledge & Types of Problems
Type of Knowledge Descriptive Explanatory
Type of Problem Fact-finding Explanation
Examples Following changes related to land use in Zimbabwe, many internal borders changed.
People in the 15th century used to believe it was possible to fall off the earth.
Example of Question
What would a legal map look like?
Explain why?
Source: M. Savin-Baden and C. Major. 2004. Foundations of PBL.Berkshire, England: Open University Press.
Types of Knowledge & Types of Problems
Type of Knowledge
Procedural Personal
Type of Problem Strategy Moral dilemma
Examples A 45-year old woman cannot lift her arm more than 45 degrees and she complains of pins and needles in her arm.
A mother breaks into a drugstore to obtain expensive, life-saving drugs for her child. The next day she tells her physician what she has done.
Example of Question
If you were this client’s therapist, what would you do?
What should the physician do?