Problem-based learning in less than five minutes. I promise. In the 1980s somebody decided that
haircuts were way too messy so they combined the hair trimmer and the vacuum cleaner and we ended
up with the Flowbee. I remember begging my parents for a Flowbee and they said, “no,” because they
thought I would use it on the dog. They were probably right. But the idea there is pretty
clear that you can solve problems in unique ways. That's the core idea of problem-based learning
Number one, the need for problem-based learning. School exists in a one-size-fits-all factory model
where students are expected to passively consume content. But here's the thing: kids aren't widgets
and one-size-fits-all is great for socks but lousy for minds. Kids need to dream and wonder and
imagine. They need to design and build and tinker. They need to think critically and solve complex
problems. For years the model has involved going to school being compliant getting into college
and then climbing the corporate ladder. But the latter is now a maze and our students need to
know how to navigate the complexity of a global society. In other words, students need to be
empowered to solve real-world problems and that's why we have problem-based learning. Number two,
the history of problem-based learning. Problem based learning began at Case Western University
in the 1950s although it wasn't called that at the time and the goal was to provide real-world
problems for medical students to solve. It soon spread to other medical schools and eventually
made its way into business law engineering and education. By the 1960s you could find elements
of problem-based learning within the new social studies framework of Massialas and Cox as well
as Herbert Thelen’s group investigation model. Problem based learning fits well within the social
family of education because of the emphasis on real-world problems in human systems. It's not
surprising that many of the problem-based learning theorists cite John Dewey's notion
of democratic education as well as Paulo Freire concept of critical pedagogy. In other words,
kids need to be engaged with solving problems within their world. Here's the description of
problem-based learning. There are four different phases. Number one, you present or identify the
problem in some cases the teacher decides on the problem in other cases individual students
or the entire classroom community presents the initial problem. In phase number two,
they develop a plan for solving the problem. Here students work collaboratively in this phase,
where they figure out what they will do in order to solve the problem. In some cases,
it's a really small plan of action but sometimes they might engage in research, brainstorming,
ideation and in a few cases, they might even decide to build a product. The next phase is
the implementation of the plan. In this phase, students test out their plan to see if they can
solve the problem. Then finally they move to the last phase where they evaluate the implementation.
Here students analyze the results and they also reflect on the process. Now here's the ideal
context for problem-based learning. Problem-based learning works best when students solve authentic
real-world problems. Math teacher Dan Meyer warns against solving problems that contain pseudo
context where students solve problems that don't actually reflect the way the world exists. So,
it's important that the problems feel real to the students. In social studies students might broker
peace in a war simulation. In math they might determine the most efficient route for a trip.
In language arts they might figure out if a novel should be adapted into a movie. In science they
might do a science fair project. But the key idea here is that it is not project-based learning;
it's problem-based and that's because you don't have to design a product. You're simply solving
a problem. Ideally students will solve problems that actually exist their own world. Here's where
the technology comes in. Our devices have a slew of apps that once required additional time in
resources. Problem-based learning provides a model that taps into both the connective and
creative capacity of technology so that students can access the tools and the information to solve
these real-world problems. So that is basically problem-based learning in less than five minutes