Understanding Problem-based Learning
The Odyssey Design & Implementation Process
Problem-based learning (PBL) is an educational strategy that has become quite popular over the past several years. Out of a growing concern that students of all levels struggle with critical thinking, problem solving and the application of knowledge to real world contexts, PBL instructional models were created to provide opportunities for students to target these known deficiencies. The Project EXCITE Odyssey Model was developed after thorough examination and critique of other available models. This model represents a synthesis of previous models with additional experiences to eliminate perceived gaps. The Odyssey title reflects the active and process-oriented nature of PBL. Our model consists of the following phases: Meet the Problem, Investigate and Inquire, Build Solutions and Take Action, and is more specifically outlined and discussed in the previous article, From Problem Solving to Taking Action(Haney, 2003).
Project EXCITE Odysseys were developed as PBL curricula that teachers could modify and implement in their own classrooms.The Odysseys focus on environmental health science (EHS) issues that are pervasive in many school communities. Currently, EXCITE Odysseys exist for the following EHS issues: student illnesses arise after a trip to the local zoo(ZoOdyssey), factory vs. family farms(AgOdyssey), food contamination (FoodOdyssey), cruise ship illnesses (Sick ShipOdyssey), civic environmental tobacco smoke policies (ETS Odyssey), chemical cleaners (ChemOdyssey), local power plant development (E-Odyssey), and school building indoor air quality (Sick of SchoolOdyssey). These Odysseys offer a range of topics and a continuum of simulated versus authentic problems. The simulated Odysseys have an intended “instructional” use, teaching students how to go about PBL and EHS while the other Odysseys are authentic problems that relate to local EHS issues. Because of the diversity of the available EXCITE Odysseys, it is likely that one or more offer relevant curricula for most school communities. However, the best PBL problems are the most authentic problems. Therefore, we encourage teachers to design their own Odysseys to address current issues that are most pertinent to their school communities. Doing so will even further enhance student motivation and can result in real solutions to real problems.
The EXCITE Odyssey Design and Implementation Process provides a framework for the development of a PBL Odyssey and is the same framework used in the development of the aforementioned EXCITE Odysseys. Since our Odysseys are interdisciplinary in nature, teacher teams representing different disciplines worked together to develop these units. Teacher teams can use our model, as can individual teachers.To further authenticate the experience however, we encourage interdisciplinary thinking and planning regardless of the number of teachers designing and implementing the Odyssey.
The EXCITE Design and Implementation Process is depicted in the picture above and begins with Targeting a Problem. Teachers brainstorm local issues, current events, student interests, curriculum needs and personal or professional experiences/expertise. Many teachers involve their students in this process, asking them to conduct “interesting article searches” or establishing a current event bulletin board for a period of time preceding the development of the unit. The possible issues should then be critiqued to find a “best fit problem” using a table like the one that follows.
The “best fit problem” should reflect one that is generally of interest to students and provides strong educational standards support to justify the time needed to complete the Odyssey. Moreover, the teacher must be confident in his or her knowledge and skill base related to this problem (teachers do not need to be experts, but confident enough to effectively coach students and find or access needed information and resources as needed).
Charting the Course, the next phase of the process, requires teachers to decide the roles and responsibilities the students will undertake. They must also develop a problem scenario (or story line). When considering curriculum needs and fit with educational standards, teachers create interdisciplinary concept and student experience webs and develop correlation tables to chart the possible standards the Odyssey can address. The EXCITE Odysseys are correlated to the Health, Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies and Technology National Education Standards (and Ohio Content Standards). Importantly, this correlation chart must be revisited at a later time to eliminate those standards that are no longer valid. The final correlation of Odyssey experiences to educational standards should indicate the strength of the correlation to the standards (strong, moderate, weak).
During the Charting the Course phase, teachers also create a timeline or calendar that designates time estimates to each of the phases of the PBL Odyssey Model: Meet the Problem, Investigate and Inquire (with time for anchor lessons and revisiting the problem), Build Solutions, and Take Action. Assigning time to each phase and potential student experience will help discriminate between “need to do” versus “neat to do”student experiences. The timeline will likely result in eliminating some of the earlier brainstormed student experiences and the Odyssey interdisciplinary concept webs and standards correlation tables will need to be revisited to reflect the time available to implement the Odyssey.
The next step is to Design the Voyage by developing problem starters which introduce the problem by describing the central ideas as well as the expected student roles and responsibilities.They should be ill structured, concrete, authentic, engaging,and likely to lead to many appropriate outcomes. The starters may be presented using text, video, audio, etc. Newspaper articles, recordings of local newscasts, produced video introductions make for excellent problem starters. A supporting narrative recapping the information presented by the other media is useful. The student should be placed in a role of an authentic stakeholder of the situation. The narrative should state the central issue to be resolved and the critical conditions or criteria that must be attended to for a solution to be considered appropriate. We recommend infusing into the problem starter a statement such as: “As a _____(insert student role), _____(insert student responsibility), taking into account _____(insert critical conditions).”
For example, the problem starter for the Project EXCITE AgOdyssey includes a video introduction that begins with a neighborhood sign stating “family not factory farms” and video footage of both small scale and large scale farms found in the community.
The problem narrative follows:
A large-scale dairy farm was recently constructed and is now operating in rural northwest Ohio and another large-scale dairy farm is scheduled for construction in the near future. Others are likely to follow. Organized members of the local community have voiced great concern. What do you think should be done? As a citizen living in this community [student role], formulate an evidence-based position statement that indicates what you think should be done [student responsibility] taking into account the needs and values associated with different stakeholders of the community [critical condition].
After the problem starter is designed, the rest of the Odyssey(anchor lessons, possible investigations, possible solutions and possible actions) must be planned. Moreover, student assessment pieces, student worksheets and student resources must also be developed. This part of the process takes the most time to complete, therefore teachers should understand the PBL planning process may take several months before they are ready to implement the Odyssey. Our EXCITE teachers plan during the summer and fall for spring implementation of the developed unit.
Anchor lessons are more teacher-directed experiences used to provide students with knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed for PBL success. Anchor lessons include mini-lectures,guest speakers, video segments, field trips, guided inquiries, or other hands-on investigations. We encourage involving community experts and accessing available resources to help students better understand the principles and concepts surrounding the problem. Caution should be used in planning for anchors, as too many anchors may disengage active learning and critical thinking, while too few may result in students wandering aimlessly without a needed knowledge and skill base.
Possible student investigations should also be preplanned. During the Odyssey, students will design and conduct their own investigations to gather needed data to make valid conclusions about the problem. However, without proper planning, teachers will not be prepared to assist students in their inquiries. Therefore, teachers brainstorm possible student research questions, both qualitative and quantitative in nature,and gather student resources that may be too difficult for the students to find on their own because of time, expense, or other obstacles. Importantly, teachers should be prepared to help students construct good research designs to produce valid data. Anchor lessons might be used to teach students how to conduct“good research”. Teachers also design possible student solutions. Again, students will generate these on their own as a result of their inquiry and investigation, but preplanning will help the teacher discuss the advantages and disadvantages associated with the student-generated solutions. Teachers should brainstorm both simple and complex solutions to the problem so that they can guide this part of the PBL Odyssey when the time comes.
Student Take Action projects might consist of creating and presenting informational products for the community to communicate newly constructed knowledge, designing and constructing a model or prototype, developing an action-oriented service, or voicing concern through letter writing,campaigning, etc. Action projects can be pre-determined by the teacher or designed by students. Often, a pre-determined whole group action project is appropriate because of a known upcoming event (city council meeting on the topic); however, we encourage student designed action projects whenever possible.
During the design process, teachers organize the available EXCITE assessment tools and dedicate time in the Odyssey calendar for students to complete these tasks. Teachers may also plan for additional assessment opportunities. Moreover,teachers select or develop and then organize the needed student resources and student worksheets that will be used throughout the Odyssey. Many of these student sheets are provided as part of the EXCITE PBL Odyssey Model; however, issue-specific student resources will be needed.
Finally, teachers must plan for corresponding special arrangements that are needed for effective implementation. They must think about and plan for the following questions. Will students work in-groups? If so, how will they be selected? What formal cooperative or collaborative learning strategies will be used? With whom must they communicate to gain support to implement this Odyssey and how will they go about this communication? What arrangements will need to be made for special scheduling needs such as teaming and space? What community partners will be involved and how will they be involved? What special materials will need to be purchased or borrowed? How can this unit be adapted for special needs and accelerated learners? What extension activities are relevant to this unit? What technology requirements does this Odysseyevoke and what modifications are needed for students with less access to technology?
After the Design phase is complete, the Odyssey is ready for its maiden implementation voyage and like many maiden voyages, “troubled waters” may be encountered along the way! Teachers should adopt a risk taking mindset and recognize that experienced difficulties should be well noted as they will provide valuable information for needed revisions.
To Implement the Odyssey, students set sail as they Meet the problem through the developed problem starter. After the students have outlined what they currently know and what they need to know about the problem, they identify possible resources for learning and generate beginning ideas or hypotheses (inferences as to the root and/or nature of the problem). They then devise a plan to guide them through the next learning phase, Inquiry and Investigation. During this phase, students use interdisciplinary inquiry skills and available resources to uncover needed information based on multiple perspectives in order to revisit the problem by revising their original ideas/hypotheses. Anchor lessons are punctuated throughout the Odyssey as needed. Often the PBL experience takes the students in unfamiliar territory, and an Anchor Lesson is infused to provide the students with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to successfully tackle the problem. These lessons are more teacher-directed and might include mini-lectures, guest speakers, video segments, field trips, guided inquiries, or other hands-on investigations.When students have unraveled and revisited the problem and have constructed deeper understandings of the related content,they Build Solutions by generating several possible solutions to the problem. They then use critical thinking skills to weigh the pros and cons associated with the possible solutions in order to establish a best-fit solution. After students decide upon a best-fit solution, they develop a service learning project to Take Action, encouraging active citizenship and social responsibility. Reflection is emphasized throughout the Odyssey as students are given frequent opportunities to respond to questions in a daily or weekly reflection log.
Teachers Assess Learning both during and after the Odyssey, as students complete corresponding student worksheets along the way and reflect upon the learning experience using the travel log student sheet. Students will compile their work and submit an Odyssey portfolio to document their learning. The EHS System graphic organizer is completed by students to demonstrate their deepened conceptual understandings related to the problem. Student oral presentations of their findings and/or their action projects can also used to assess their learning. Rubrics are available for each of the above assessment tools.
After the implementation and assessment phases are complete,teachers Reflect and Revise the Odyssey using the student assessment information as well as mental and written notes recorded during the implementation of the Odyssey. The Project EXCITE teachers also use peer, project staff, and faculty review and feedback to help guide the revision process. EXCITE teachers re-implement the Odyssey the following year, and reflect and revise again using the information gleaned from the second implementation.
The EXCITE Odyssey Design and Implementation Process is both demanding and time-consuming; however, we’ve found it to be well worth the journey. The Odysseys developed by EXCITE teachers focused on real local issues and proved to be effective and powerful learning experiences for their students. Teachers witnessed the fruits of their labor by seeing and hearing their students engage and react to the PBL experiences and through the learning that was documented by the student assessments.
References:
Torp, Linda, Sage, Sarah. (1998). Problems As Possibilities:problem-based learning For K-12 Education. Alexandria, VA:Association For Curriculum And Development.
