Creating a Learning Space in Problem-based Learning

An important aspect of PBL problems is the affordances that they hold for engaging students in discussion of important content knowledge. In this paper, I argue that one can analyze a problem in terms of a deep problem space and a broader learning space to identify the conceptual ideas for potential engagement. The problem space refers to the specific ideas and concepts that are part of the goals of the problem at hand. The learning space includes those aspects of the problem space and also includes the broader space of related conceptual ideas such as the anatomy and physiology related to a particular disorder or the pathology and clinical medicine of other disorders that might be considered as part of a differential diagnosis. This idea is tested in an exploratory analysis of a PBL tutorial conducted by Howard Barrows. The results demonstrate that much of students’ talk is focused in these related conceptual spaces and a substantial amount of the overall learning space is engaged in the group discussion. These results have implications for understanding the affordances of problems and providing another lens on how learning unfolds in a PBL problem. It also provides another means for evaluation of learning and assessment of discursive productivity in PBL groups

Problem-based learning: what and how do students learn?

Problem-based approaches to learning have a long history of advocatin

Problem-based learning: what and how do students learn?

Problem-based approaches to learning have a long history of advocatin

Modeling with a Conceptual representation: is it necessary? does it Work?

In response to recent educational imperatives in the United States, modeling and systems thinking have been identified as being critical for science learning. In this paper, we investigate models in the classroom from two important perspectives: (1) from the teacher perspective to understand how teachers perceive models and use models in the classroom and (2) from the students perspective to understand how student use model-based reasoning to represent their understanding in a classroom setting. Qualitative data collected from 19 teachers who attended a professional development workshop in the northeastern United States indicate that while teachers see the value in teaching to think with models (i.e., during inquiry practices), they tend to use models mostly as communication tools in the classroom. Quantitative data collected about the modeling practices of 42 middle school students who worked collaboratively in small groups (4–5 students) using a computer modeling program indicated that students tended to engage in more mechanistic and function-related thinking with time as they reasoned about a complex system. Furthermore, students had a typified trajectory of first adding and then next paring down ideas in their models. Implications for science education are discussed

Modeling with a Conceptual representation: is it necessary? does it Work?

In response to recent educational imperatives in the United States, modeling and systems thinking have been identified as being critical for science learning. In this paper, we investigate models in the classroom from two important perspectives: (1) from the teacher perspective to understand how teachers perceive models and use models in the classroom and (2) from the students perspective to understand how student use model-based reasoning to represent their understanding in a classroom setting. Qualitative data collected from 19 teachers who attended a professional development workshop in the northeastern United States indicate that while teachers see the value in teaching to think with models (i.e., during inquiry practices), they tend to use models mostly as communication tools in the classroom. Quantitative data collected about the modeling practices of 42 middle school students who worked collaboratively in small groups (4–5 students) using a computer modeling program indicated that students tended to engage in more mechanistic and function-related thinking with time as they reasoned about a complex system. Furthermore, students had a typified trajectory of first adding and then next paring down ideas in their models. Implications for science education are discussed

Conceptual representations for transfer: A case study tracing back and looking forward

A primary goal of instruction is to prepare learners to transfer their knowledge and skills to new contexts, but how far this transfer goes is an open question.  In the research reported here, we seek to explain a case of transfer through examining the processes by which a conceptual representation used to reason about complex systems was transferred from one natural system (an aquarium ecosystem) to another natural system (human cells and body systems). In this case study, a teacher was motivated to generalize her understanding of the Structure, Behaviour, and Function (SBF) conceptual representation to modify her classroom instruction and teaching materials for another system. This case of transfer was unexpected and required that we trace back through the video and artefacts collected over several years of this teacher enacting a technology-rich classroom unit organized around this conceptual representation. We provide evidence of transfer using three data sources: (1) artefacts that the teacher created (2) in-depth semi-structured interview data with the teacher about how her understanding of the representation changed over time and (3) video data over multiple years, covering units on the aquatic ecosystem and the new system that the teacher applied the SBF representation to, the cell and body. Borrowing from interactive ethnography, we traced backward from where the teacher showed transfer to understand how she got there. The use of the actor-oriented transfer and preparation for future learning perspectives provided lenses for understanding transfer. Results of this study suggest that identifying similarities under the lens of SBF and using it as a conceptual tool are some primary factors that may have supported transfer

A Multidimensional Framework of Collaborative Groups’ Disciplinary Engagement

Abstract This research is aimed at developing novel theory to advance innovative methods for examining how collaborative groups progress toward productively engaging during classroom activity that integrates disciplinary practices. This work draws on a situative perspective, along with prior framings of individual engagement, to conceptualize engagement as a shared and multidimensional phenomenon. A multidimensional conceptualization affords the study of distinct engagement dimensions, as well as the interrelationships of engagement dimensions that together are productive. Development and exploration of an observational rubric evaluating collaborative group disciplinary engagement (GDE) is presented, leveraging the benefits of observational methods with a rubric specifying quality ratings, enabling the potential for analyses of larger samples more efficiently than prior approaches, but with similar ability to richly characterize the shared and multidimensional nature of group engagement. Mixed-methods analyses, including case illustrations and profile analysis, showcase the synergistic interrelations among engagement dimensions constituting GDE. The rubric effectively captured engagement features that could be identified via intensive video analysis, while affording the evaluation of broader claims about group engagement patterns. Application of the rubric across curricular contexts, and within and between lessons across a curricular unit, will enable comparative studies that can inform theory about collaborative engagement, as well as instructional design and practice

Using Online Digital Tools and Video to Support International Problem-Based Learning

The goal of this study is to examine how to facilitate cross-cultural groups in problem-based learning (PBL) using online digital tools and videos. The PBL consisted of two video-based cases used to trigger student-learning issues about giving bad news to HIV-positive patients. Mixed groups of medical students from Canada and Hong Kong worked with facilitators from each country along with an expert facilitator. The study used AdobeConnect to support the international model through synchronous video interaction and shared applications. This study examines strategies and challenges in facilitating PBL across distance and cultures. Discourse was analyzed using both an inductive and deductive approach where the later used the Community of Inquiry coding scheme. The international context provides a way to facilitate multiple perspectives about how to communicate bad news to patients from different cultural backgrounds. In addition, we present the results of an exploratory analysis of pre and post tests using a standardized patient that demonstrate that the students’ pattern of communication showed qualitative change. Several conjectures were developed for future research

Beyond inquiry or direct instruction:Pressing issues for designing impactful science learning opportunities

We recently published a paper in this journal (de Jong et al., 2023) that presented an overview of the literature on learning in science domains through direct instruction and guided inquiry-based learning. This paper was, in part, a response to Zhang et al. (2022) who argued that the evidence firmly supported the superiority of direct instruction over inquiry learning. Sweller et al. (2024) recently replied by repeating this claim and also argued that we had ignored evidence against our position, questioned our analysis of the evidence, and claimed that direct instruction (unlike inquiry learning) is grounded in a strong theory. In this rebuttal we start by reemphasizing the conclusion from our previous paper: adequate instruction always involves different strategies, which should be thoughtfully selected based on contextual factors. Next, we demonstrate that inquiry-based learning is firmly rooted in both cognitive and socio-cultural theories of learning and conclude from recent literature that Sweller et al.‘s belief that direct instruction is overall more effective than inquiry learning is not supported by the data from empirical studies.</p