CourseAssessment-Reflection 5

Problem-based learning (PBL) has been around for over five decades. Originally developed to enhance medical students abilities in clinical settings. According to our reading it was found that the transition from these students abilities or increased by putting students in the situation where they had to come up with solutions to real-world problems. Later the use of PBLs expanded into other disciplines such as math, science and even social studies. In these other educational settings students are challenged to identify problems, come up with solutions and test their solutions.

This week’s reading provided a great deal of information in regards to PBL. The authors provided a rich history with information on initial medical education as well as PBL’s outside of the medical field. According to the authors there have been various results of implementations in various settings K-12 stating:

First, PBL have shown to be effective in conveying a variety of content areas-for example, mathematics, science, literature, history, and microeconomics. Second, PBL has been implemented effectively and schools in urban, suburban, and rural communities. Third, PBL’s can be used effectively and a wide range of student populations-for example, gifted elementary-, middle-, and high-, as well as low income students school students (Hung, Jonassen, & Liu, 2007, p. 487)

This shows that the use of PBL can be very effective in many different areas.

            There is also section and the reading about assumptions and characteristics. One of the most interesting assumptions, in my opinion, is that many believe that learning only takes place in formal educational settings; learning does not take place outside of the school. I see this as a major misconception. I believe that the majority of learning and/or cementing understanding occurs as we live our day-to-day lives. Some of the characteristics that were given are that ill structured problems give students an opportunity to become skilled in organizing as opposed to following a hierarchical list of topics, it student centered, it is self-directed and collaborative, and involves self-reflection, teachers are facilitators only in assisting and not providing solutions to problems (Hung, Jonassen, & Liu, 2007).

            I found that the research results were very interesting and that in many instances those involved in PBL did not outperform students who engaged in traditional learning. This makes me think less about the value of PBL and more about how well it was executed. PBL students tended to have content retention over long-term better than traditional students proving one of the benefits of its use. Also, students engaging in PBL developed better skills in problem-solving. There was also an increase in students’ abilities to use higher order thinking proved by their ability to generate much more accurate hypothesis as well as coherent explanations for their hypothesis (Hung, Jonassen, & Liu, 2007).

 I found the Implementation of PBL section to be the best and most informative part of the chapter. This section provided a great deal of detail in the role of the student, tutors role as well as tutors’ issues. There is also a section about the group processing, and assessment issues. There is also a section on curriculum design in PBL. Finally there is a section providing information on technology in PBL. These sections provides a great deal of information which can be used by anybody who is in the process of designing PBL for use in any discipline, and any age group, and any circumstance.

Last part of the chapter provides information on direction for future research. With topics such as problem types and PBL, internal factors and PBL, and designing distributed PBL. This last part also provides information on implementing PBL. A possible project involving PBL could be in looking for possible solutions to lack of water resources on both sides of the border in the area in which we live.

           

References

Hung, W., Jonassen, D. H., & Liu, R. (2007). Problem-based learning. In J. M. Spector, M. D. Merrill, J. Van Merrienboer (Eds), Handbook Of Research on Educational Communications and Technology (pp. 485-500). New York, NY: Taylor & Francis Group

CourseAssessment-Reflection 4

This week's reading Doing Science: The Process of Scientific Inquiry is a report focusing on Science Inquiry. This work is divided into several sections. It includes four lesson plans modules which teachers can use which are examples of science inquiry. This report beginning with the forward, which introduces the reader to the National Institutes of Health and its mission/goals, organization, research, grant-making process, Nobel Prize contributors, impact on the nation's health, and science education. A brief description about the National Institute of General Medical Sciences is also provided in this section.

            The introduction of the book highlights some of the innovations in science, new technology which is having an effect on many aspects of the modern world. Some of these are work done in DNA technology, in vitro fertilization techniques, personal computers, and cell phones. During the introduction the four objectives of this science inquiry module are related. These objectives begin with helping students to understand basic aspects involved in scientific inquiry. Students are to learn that science is not a rigid set of methods but is flexible. The second objective is for students to be able to develop their critical-thinking skills. The third is to assistance students envision the purpose of scientific research. The last objective is to try to get students to think in the terms of scientific inquiry not only in the present but also as the get older.

            The next section is titled, Implementing the Module, which contains an outline of how to go about in teaching the four lesson plans which are included in this book. This part of the work also includes information about the connection of science concepts as well as in regards to help the modules relate to National Science Education Standards. The 5E model is discussed in this section and quite a bit of detail. There is also information concerning teachers promoting safety in science classroom.

Following section provides information in regards to the use of the student lesson. There is an overview followed by a description of preparation. It also includes a module timeline, hardware-software requirements, the use of the web, collaborative groups and in with web activities were disabled students.

The final section of this work is titled, Information about the Process of Scientific, which I found the most important and best parts of the reading. It gives detailed background on science education in America and the use of science inquiry. There is a discussion about science inquiry used in middle school science curriculum. There’s information about inquiry and educational research which is discussed in great detail. Information in regards to inquiry and National Science Education standards is provided. This section also includes an easy to follow table showing essential features of classroom inquiry and their variations as well as one on Content Standards for Science as Inquiry focusing on grades 5-8. As well as a section that includes misconceptions about inquiry-based instruction which includes descriptions on seven misconceptions. There is also a discussion of important elements scientific inquiry for use with the module, highlighting the nature of science inquiry: science as a way of knowing, scientifically testable questions, and scientific evidence and explanations. The final two parts of this section focus on teaching science inquiry and ends with an example of scientific inquiry: epidemiology.

A possible proposal based on this reading could be to study how effective the included modules are working with actual students. All four lesson plans could be taught to several groups students were focus group could be used to gauge the students understanding of the concepts as well as their engagement throughout the lessons.