“So, What’s All This PBL Bru-Ha-Ha?”

SEU Share-A-Thon ThingeeSonoma, CA 2004

Daryl Taylor, Fizzix GuyGreenwich HS, CT

Formerly of:Williamstown HS/Engineering Academy Rowan University, NJ

Daryl@DarylScience.com

“After finding no qualifiedcandidates for the position ofprincipal, the school board is

extremely pleased toannounce the appointment of

David Steele to the post.”Philip Streifer, Superintendent of

Schools, Barrington, Rhode Island

Our Leaders?

“The principle idea behind PBL is that the starting point for learning should be a problem, a query, or a puzzle that the learner wishes to solve.”

Boud, D. (1985) PBL in perspective. In “PBL in Education for the Professions”

Just What IS PBL?

Just What IS PBL?• Learning is initiated by a

problem or open-ended question.

• Problems are based on complex, real-world situations.

• All information needed to solve problem is not initially given.

“Statistics show that teen pregnancy drops off

significantly after age 25.”Colorado State Senator,

Mary Ann Tebedo

Our Leaders?

Silly Diversion

Bloom’s Cognitive Levels

Evaluation - make a judgment based on criteria

Synthesis - produce something new from component parts

Analysis - break material into parts to see interrelationships

Application - apply concept to a new situation

Comprehension - explain, interpret

Knowledge - remember facts, concepts, definitions

The Learning Triangle

National Training Labs, Bethel, MD 2003

Lecture

Reading

Multi-Media

Demonstration

Discussion Group

Doing

Teaching Others / Immediate Applications

30-day Retention

5%

10%

20%

30%

50%

70%

90%

Specifically FIZZIX PBL Problems…Typical Text vs PBL Problem #1:

Basic Vector Problem from text…Basic Vector PBL!!! (Thanks to CIESE) You are a Stowaway on a ship somewhere at sea. You want to figure

out where you are headed and when you will arrive. Being a good TechnoTwit, you remembered to bring your laptop, satellite-phone, and modem and you remember a shipmate mention the Ship’s ID code.

What’s involved with the Stowaway PBL?

1.Use the internet to locate your position (Backup)

2.Find where the ship CAME FROM. (Backup)

3.Double check with Online Data center. (Backup)

4.Include wind & gulf stream & speed info for vector analysis. (Backup)

5. Learn Latitude/Longitude.

• Gather OWN data!–Not someone else’s

• Analyze their OWN data!–Solution not predetermined, so

cheating by working backwards ain’t happnin’!

What’s involved with the Stowaway PBL?

“I was raised in the West. The west of Texas. It's pretty

close to California. In more ways than Washington, D.C.,

is close to California”

President George W BushI think anybody

Prepared Leaders?

Specifically FIZZIX PBL Problems…Typical Text vs PBL Problem #2:

Basic Vector Problem from workbook…

“What a waste it is to lose one's mind. or not to have a mind is being very wasteful.

How true that is.”

Dan Quayle at a fund raising event for the United Negro College Fund.

Attempting to quote the line “a mind is a terrible thing to waste”.

Prepared Leaders?

Specifically FIZZIX PBL Problems…Typical Text vs PBL Problem #2:

Basic Vector PBL!!!… Use real-time data to determine the vectors affecting a commercial plane’s flight pattern.

• Flight Tracker - Real time flight tracking information (BU)

• Airport Information - Find an airport's exact location (BU)

• How Far is it? - Find latitude and longitude of a specific location by typing location in "From" section. (BU)

“Outside of all of thekillings, DC has one of

the lowest crime rates inthe country.”

DC Mayor Marion Barry

Prepared Leaders?

Specifically FIZZIX PBL Problems…Typical Text vs PBL Problem #2:

Emergency! As a pilot, you must be prepared for any situation. Suddenly, a medical emergency arises.

You must land the plane as QUICKLY as possible or you will lose a passenger. You must choose an airport where you will land the plane.

“Following a nuclear attack on the US, the US Postal

Service plans to distributeEmergency Change of

Address cards.”

US Federal Emergency Agency

Prepared Leaders?

Specifically FIZZIX PBL Problems…Typical Text vs PBL Problem #2:

Identify two nearby airports where the plane could land. Don't forget to consider the airport where the plane departed.  

• U.S. Airport Information

“And now will y’all stand& be recognized?”

Gib Lewis, Texas Speaker of theHouse, on Disability Day, to a group

of people in wheelchairs watchingthe House session

Prepared Leaders?

Prepared Leaders?

“…going up to 47o today, it’s currently 53o at the airport…”

Cecily TynanCh 6 ABC Philadelphia Meteorologist

Specifically FIZZIX PBL Problems…Typical Text/Class Problem #3:

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.

Specifically FIZZIX PBL Problems…Typical PBL:

• Invite local Police in!!!– Based on police sketch– Students need to make assumptions and

approximate– Information given gradually throughout

problem– Students draw conclusions based on real

data!

Specifically FIZZIX PBL Problems…Typical PBL:

Specifically FIZZIX PBL Problems…Typical PBL:

Specifically FIZZIX PBL Problems…PBL IDEAS:

• Star Wars (SDI)

• Hollywood Physics– SuperBowl Commercials ‘04

• Kepler’s Laws?– MAP Mars orbit using Brahe’s REAL

observations!

Specifically FIZZIX PBL Problems…Typical Text/Class Problem?

Specifically FIZZIX PBL Problems…Typical Text/Class Problem?

Specifically FIZZIX PBL Problems…Typical Text/Class Problem?

So:Why are some clouds white and some dark?Why IS the sky blue?Why do clouds ‘float’ where they do?Why doesn’t my wife understand me?

Specifically FIZZIX PBL Problems…Typical Text/Class Problem?

Why are sunsets red?Where is the sun?Why is the sun yellow?What’s the distance to the horizon?How big is the sun?How far away is it?Why do sunsets in Winter last longer?How do they know all this stuff?Where’s my other sock?

Specifically FIZZIX PBL Problems…

Want More?

This PPT, the Handout, and lots

more PBL ideas are available at

www.DarylScience.com

The End?

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