International PBL Symposium, 710th March Republic Polytechnic Singapore: Reporting back

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International PBL Symposium, 7-10th
MarchRepublic PolytechnicSingaporeReporting
back

• Sarah Hyde
• Faculty of Medicine
• The University of Sydney

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Keynote 1 Prof Maggi Savin-Baden

• PBL cases need to be more troublesome liquid,
  not solid
• Advocated for a model of transitional learning
• Troublesome learning spaces can be created by
• New learning experiences
• Threats to identity
• Scaffolding
• Chronic uncertainty requires reflexivity and
  flexibility

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Savin-Baden 2

• Current learning spaces are insufficient because
• Full curricula
• Too much content coverage
• Staff as knowledge patrollers
• Co-dependent students locked into ways of doing
  things

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Savin-Baden 3

• Rethink learning spaces
• Engagement where disconnected thoughts cohere as
  a result of suspension from daily life
• Reinvent PBL by putting chronic uncertainty at
  the forefront, contestable knowledge boundaries,
  flexibility, create disjunctions (spaces
  in-between) liminality
• Design problems that promote liminality
• Engagement in 3D worlds

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Keynote 2 Prof Henk Schmidt

• Statistically significant effect of the tutor
  expert tutor better student achievement, but
  difference declines as students progress through
  the course
• Cognitive congruence theory of tutor functioning
  (Moust, 1993)
• Social congruence expertise positive
  influence on student self-study time
• Cognitive congruence expertise positive
  tutorial group functioning, BUT negative effect
  on student self-study time and academic
  achievement

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Schmidt 2

• Choice of learning goals depends on assessment,
  tutor and lectures etc. Pursuing personal
  learning goals is the exception rather than the
  rule
• SDL skills can be learned in a PBL context
• SDL has indirect effects and questionable long
  term outcomes

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Schmidt 3

• Examined the original claims of PBL and if they
  are true
• PBL provides more student-centred learning
  environment? Yes
• PBL helps students acquire better reasoning
  skills? Yes Hmelo Schuwirth (1999)
• PBL does not support acquisition and retention of
  knowledge, but there is a strong effect at micro
  level (Dutch med school study)

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Schmidt 4

• Hidden by-product of PBL curricula is that it has
  a lower drop out rate than traditional curricula,
  esp. Harvard Dental Program
• There is no next-generation PBL
• Hybrid PBL is a step back
• All Schmidts research shows that old-fashioned
  PBL works
• PBL at a distance is a failure

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Keynote 3 Prof Dan Pratt

• Variations in teaching based on
• Actions (how teach, ask and respond to qs)
• Intentions (what trying to accomplish)
• Beliefs (what is considered important or
  justified role as a teacher)
• When transmission approach is adopted, important
  to have Big Questions as key features and
  organising frameworks wont work if can answer
  by looking at web
• Prevent death by lecture
• Main purpose of lectures in PBL is not to
  transmit knowledge but to provide more compelling
  evidence to support it

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Pratt 2

• 5 perspectives on teaching
• Developmental learning oriented, inquiry
  centred suited to PBL Less (direct teaching)
  can yield more (learning)
• Nurturing emotion, social congruence dominant,
  provide feedback, balance challenge and support
  roles They may forget what you said but not how
  you made them feel
• Apprenticeship role models, knowledge is
  located in the group We teach who we are as
  much as what we know

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Pratt 3

• 5 perspectives ctd
• Transmission knowledge centred equate covering
  content with teaching Good performance good
  teaching
• Social reform values reign supreme, challenge
  that which students take for granted
• Invited to take the Teaching Perspectives
  Inventory www.TeachingPerspectives.com

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Pratt 4

• Has developed a PBL assessment rubric where
  grades (Exceptional, Proficient, Fair, and Poor)
  are assigned and learners assessed on inquiry
  skills, knowledge building, problem solving team
  skills. Grade descriptors available

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Pratt 5

• 8 qualities of highly effective teachers
• Understanding of learning - Developmental
• Perception of assessment Developmental
• Provision of feedback Nurturing
• Learning environment Nurturing
• Role modeling Apprenticeship
• Ways of thinking Apprenticeship
• Knowledge/experience Transmission
• Engagement - Transmission

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Paper sessions

• Role and experience of PBL facilitator in Inquiry
  Based Learning Nursing and Social Work (Belinda
  Watts, Anglia Ruskin University, UK)
• Facilitators as leaders, transformational
  leadership empowers the student, models
  collaboration, sharing responsibilities and power
• Students as novice colleagues
• protecting the group vs challenging their
  learning

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Paper sessions 2

• Ego-resiliency in the PBL environment (Tan Chin
  Pei, RP)
• Foundation program for first year at RP
  includes problem solving and cognitive processes
  math and computing science, culture and
  communication enterprise skills establishes
  need for PBL students to demonstrate initiative,
  risk taking and self-reflection
• Need to adapt multiple sources of knowledge
• Uncertainty of team dynamics
• Emotional attachment issues
• Foundation program preceded by a 2 day orientation

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Paper sessions 2 - Resiliency

• Resiliency in PBL requires
• Personality traits openness to change and
  fluidity adaptive flexibility
• Psycho social competencies
• Intellect
• Concept of ego-resiliency the dynamic
  capacity to contextually modify ones level of
  control in response to situational demands and
  affordances
• No selective entry into RP
• Role of facilitator in nurturing resiliency
  necessary to experience a variety of facilitator
  profiles for cognitive dissonance

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Paper sessions 3

• Exploring the humanistic principles of learning
  that is embedded within the delivery of PBL
  (Anwar Mohammad, De Montfort University UK)
• Need to distinguish between SDL and development
  of the self
• Development of selfhood Miller (1973) Me and
  T
• Most effective learning situation is that which
  reduced threat to self
• PBL allows self to develop contradiction to
  Savin-Baden
• Insecurity of having to rely on the learning of
  others (Biley Smith 1999) but can be a good
  thing
• Rogers (1983) cognitive vs experiential learning

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Paper sessions 3

• Good facilitation What does it take? (Glen
  OGrady, Director, Centre for Educational
  Development, RP)
• Certification process for facilitators after 1
  year working
• Videos of teaching
• Portfolio
• Interview (critique, evidence of student SDL)
• Feedback

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My paper PBL Does the context matter?

• Described the year 2 and year 3 PBL and clinical
  contexts
• Qualitative longitudinal study
• Reported on student perceptions of each context
  in each year
• Outlined the factors affecting student
  participation, observed student behaviours

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Factors affecting participation in PBL

• Comfort (with group and process)
• Group size, dynamic, length together
• Authenticity of cases, obscure cases, out of date
• Content expert tutors
• Perception of the task and purpose
• Role/identity
• Availability of resources
• Lack of alignment with other learning activities
• Learning style
• Interview data

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What effect did context have?

• In year 2 Motivating, Social, Co-regulation
• In year 3 Role changed, context changed,
  resulting in decreased enthusiasm and motivation
  for PBL, a perceived lack of relevance, unstable
  group, lack of learning BUT increased question
  asking souseful??

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What are we doing about this effect?

• Considering a Case Based Learning alternative
  more aligned with clinical experience
• Video streaming of lectures available on
  demand, depending on clinical attachment
• Should we be doing anything to change this?

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Implications

• For study design?
• For PBL programs?
• For Curriculum planning?
• Artificiality without the reality (field
  experience) works. With reality, it doesnt

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PBL model at RP

• 3 year Diploma courses, pre-uni
• One case a day
• 25 students per class, groups of 5, 1 tutor
  rotates among the groups Teams are decided by
  facilitators to challenge students
• Daily assessment understanding test 4
  x/semester
• If time between PBL tutorials is long, students
  do not use it Model forces students to use their
  time efficiently
• Good for secondary and professional education

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Keynote 4 Dr W.A.M. Alwis

• PBL as the academic system to educate at RP, not
  just about the pedagogy
• 1 day 1 problem
• Evaluate scenario in morning
• Identify, search evidence, information
• Work in teams
• Reason and justify
• Graded everyday holistic assessment from 16
  daily grades and 4 understanding tests to measure
  depth

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Alwis 2

• Facilitator assigned for the day for each class
• 3 structured meetings per day, 3rd meeting is for
  team presentations, followed by facilitator
  presentation
• Classroom ends each day with a quiz
• Student reflections are required by 1159pm each
  day
• Class ends at 4pm
• Wireless campus with free internet access
• Campus wide online platform for all learning
  activities and assessment
• Wireless access to projectors in each classroom
• Problem design more complex activity at RP

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Alwis 3

• Balanced curriculum
• 10 common modules to all RP students
• 4-8 Discipline based modules
• 40 specialised modules
• 2 projects (1 semester long each)
• 2 special modules, e.g. attending a talk 1
  point creative engagement and profession
  profiling of an industry or sector related to
  diploma 3 hours engagement in an activity 1
  point
• 40 points needed to graduate

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Alwis 4

• 5 schools
• Applied science
• Engineering
• IT
• Technology for Arts
• Sports, Health and Lesire
• 4 centres
• Culture and Communication
• Education and Development
• Innovation and Enterprise
• Science and Maths

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Student forum/views

• Mix of UG and mature age entry
• Competitiveness
• How much knowledge can be achieved at the end of
  each day?
• Anticipation of relevant topics and research
  beforehand
• Cases are too ideal, not realistic, answer is a
  click away on internet

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Student views 2

• PBL as a platform, not an end in itself
• Learning mathematics using PBL given 5-6 hours
  to come to solution, 830-9am first meeting
  present to facilitator at 2pm no texts used,
  mainly internet
• 1 day 1 reflection journal helps facilitators
  gain insight and form teams
• Lectures given raise more questions

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Student views 3

• Learn to initiate discussion, get along with team
  mates
• Need self-confidence to achieve learning
  objectives
• Applied to the workplace be proactive about
  offering solutions, not just asking for them,
  volunteer to help others because it is a chance
  to learn

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Next conference!

• January 2008
• Pan-Pacific PBL conference
• Mexico