What is problem solving?
Problems…problems…problems. Most people spend most of their active hours at work, on road or at home solving problems. Most of the problems we face are simple, few are complex and rarely they are intractable but all of them need to be solved in a satisfactory way. The path from the problem to the solution involves a set of processes. Ideally, we need to study these processes, their limitations and even brainstorm possible alternate solutions to gain a complete understanding of the problem.
Theoretically, problem solving can be an opportunity for improvement from the present state of imperfection to the possibility of a better future. It helps to build and improve skills of the problem solver. It’s also a process that could be pre-designed to acquire knowledge and gain experience and could be a key technique for learning.
In the context of education, problem solving has been traditionally a way to assess the outcome of learning. Class projects, case studies, exercises, examinations have been the primary form of problem solving, designed to practice what we have learnt and to measure performance. However, with a growing need to improve the curriculum, PBL (problem based learning) was formally introduced in medical schools in US in 1950s. By 1970s, this approach was adapted to other disciplines like architecture, law, engineering, business administration and social work. The primary objective of this teaching model is to empower students to learn how to solve problems and think constructively as against the conventional model that focuses on the content of the subject.
In a traditional university classroom, the subject is first introduced to the students and the problems are discussed next, since the idea is to first understand the content and then use the knowledge attained to solve problems. However, this mode of teaching fails to prepare students for the real world where the problems are unstructured and often the solutions are not directly available in textbooks or academic journals. In addition, the students typically work on their own in a traditional curriculum unlike a work environment where teamwork and effective coordination among people actually brings out the best results. PBL redefines the format of the curriculum to address some of these flaws. In PBL, the problem scenario is presented first to the students and all of the learning is organized in the context of the problem. Students usually work in small groups to collaborate and pursue knowledge beyond textbooks to solve the problem. The role of the instructor is a facilitator who works closely with the groups to train them to think about the problem and to ensure that they learn on their own to solve it. Student assessment at the end of course is usually performed through peer and self evaluation in areas like self directed learning, problem solving and collaborative skills as a group member. Therefore the evaluation is primarily on the real issues that was identified through the problem solving process and not on the specific contents of the course.
PBL encourages self-directed learning and helps students to acquire skills that would be useful to them in future life. It motivates them to explore available references, discuss possible solutions with peer group and take responsibility for solving the problem that they are presented with. Students are expected to be independent and creative rather than to fall back to the prescribed solutions by the instructor in traditional curriculum. The role of the instructor is also reinvented as a coach rather than the single point of knowledge and as a result he/she can interact more productively with students to explore ideas beyond what the textbooks will offer. The goal of PBL is to not only meet the course criteria but also to train the students in the art of facing real world tests and to make them lifelong learners.
Are all problem-solving activities meaningful?
Problem solving naturally enhances skills and understanding of the problem domain and helps people to tackle similar problems more efficiently when they encounter them in future. However solving similar problems repeatedly, studying obsolete problems or exploring archaic solutions doesn’t lead to meaningful learning.
In the context of PBL, the design of the problem is the most important factor as it is the central theme around which the entire curriculum is laid out. Intuitively, PBL based courses take longer in comparison to traditional courses as the operational details (forming groups, meeting with instructors, making resources available for problem solving) are cumbersome and might take longer to implement. Therefore it is important to design well formed problems that will stimulate interest among student groups and drive self-directed learning. Uden & Beumont covers a detailed set of principles that should be in consideration for development of these problems or ‘triggers’ which will mimic real-world obstacles that a practitioner will face while not overwhelming the students who are still beginners in the subject. As a result, in PBL the onus is on the instructor to design the course work to challenge the problem solving abilities of the students and strike the right balance between attaining content knowledge and developing intuition for future.
How might we use curricular/technological tools to facilitate
problem solving?
Successful implementation of PBL model requires students to be able to solve problems in classrooms. In the real-world, the use of computer technology is pervasive in almost all professional and academic fields. Therefore, in order to develop problem solving skills among students, the school needs invest in appropriate technology tools and have instructors with relevant training to implement PBL in classrooms. Problem solving should not be a peripheral activity but a central aspect of the coursework and should substitute traditional lectures for the most part.
The first step in using technology is to first define its objectives. Any practical problem solving begins with data collection to understand the domain, to study similar problems in related areas and to review the characteristics of possible solutions. There are numerous resources on the internet that could be the starting point for the students to know about the problem. Online libraries like JSTOR, websites like Wikipedia and search engines like Google and Yahoo are powerful tools to filter through the ocean of information to find the most appropriate content. CDs and DVDs with multimedia content could also be used in classes where the students are beginners to the use of computers. There are certain pitfalls in using internet in classes, especially for children who might find it hard to navigate to the right contents and the instructor needs to train them to structure their search to efficiently find their topics.
Analyzing data is the next step where the students rank and group the outcome of their research and start building postulates. This process requires tools like Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel or several other charting and database packages that can help the user to sort, splice and graphically represent information. This activity is the most important part of problem solving as it helps students to unravel the complexity by means of analysis and deduction. It is an iterative process and might take the most of the student’s time as he/she needs to study references to get a detailed understanding in order to create hypothesis. Solving one aspect of the problem might open up another one and this process of intellectual query leads to meaningful learning. Database tools like Access could be used to store data, sort them by relevance and run queries for further evaluation. Excel is one-of-a-kind product that could be used to create simple charts for illustration and also to deploy advanced statistical tools to uncover hidden correlation among datasets.
Once the students have finalized a solution, it needs to be presented for assessment by instructor and to be opened for peer review. Software tools like Microsoft Powerpoint, Hypermedia, Adobe PhotoShop, Adobe Illustrator could be used to build effective presentations. The purpose at this stage is to summarize the researched data, highlight the result of the analysis and illustrate the solution. Students could be very efficient and creative with the use of these ever-improving software products.
In addition to the above mentioned software, there are other tools that are specific to solving problems in a classroom for engineering, architecture, fine arts and other disciplines. Technology is a vital means for the success of PBL and with the right guidance will be able to push the boundaries of the learning process in identical ways as it changed our daily lives.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Unit I - How do our authors' conceptualizations of meaningful learning relate to your own educational experiences or objectives (as a student and/or educator)?
As a student, I was exposed to the conventional mode of classroom
teaching for most of my primary and middle school. In the high school,
I had laboratory hours for science courses and some of the project
work was collaborative as they were assigned to small teams. In
undergraduate courses, similar trend continued with most of the
learning highly dependent on individual efforts in class assignments
and tests. When I reflect now, I definitely appreciate the effort and
dedication of the teachers but realize that the only part of learning
that mattered was what stayed with me long after I graduated and moved
on to professional life. It’s the chapters that fancied my
imaginations, the intangibles like being open to new ideas and
constructive thinking and the lessons that held my interest and pushed
me to learn more even when the grades have been posted. That’s what
comes close to some of the author’s thoughts on meaningful learning
and I am completely in agreement with them.
As a teacher, I felt that the students are better equipped than before
and as such can keep themselves well informed and practiced. I taught
software tools and processes and realized that the learning becomes
meaningful when the students apply their newly found skills on real
world projects. I also observed the benefits of collaborative learning
first-hand as a teacher. Much to my surprise, my students communicated
effectively, learnt from mistakes and tutored others in their team and
made the process remarkably efficient without getting unduly
distracted. I also reevaluated the role of a modern teacher who needs
to be more of a coordinator or facilitator and adapt to the changing
needs of the students.
teaching for most of my primary and middle school. In the high school,
I had laboratory hours for science courses and some of the project
work was collaborative as they were assigned to small teams. In
undergraduate courses, similar trend continued with most of the
learning highly dependent on individual efforts in class assignments
and tests. When I reflect now, I definitely appreciate the effort and
dedication of the teachers but realize that the only part of learning
that mattered was what stayed with me long after I graduated and moved
on to professional life. It’s the chapters that fancied my
imaginations, the intangibles like being open to new ideas and
constructive thinking and the lessons that held my interest and pushed
me to learn more even when the grades have been posted. That’s what
comes close to some of the author’s thoughts on meaningful learning
and I am completely in agreement with them.
As a teacher, I felt that the students are better equipped than before
and as such can keep themselves well informed and practiced. I taught
software tools and processes and realized that the learning becomes
meaningful when the students apply their newly found skills on real
world projects. I also observed the benefits of collaborative learning
first-hand as a teacher. Much to my surprise, my students communicated
effectively, learnt from mistakes and tutored others in their team and
made the process remarkably efficient without getting unduly
distracted. I also reevaluated the role of a modern teacher who needs
to be more of a coordinator or facilitator and adapt to the changing
needs of the students.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Unit I - Traditional vs Cognitive Learning (Uden & Beumont) - Brief summary
This chapter from the book, Technology and Problem Based Learning (PBL) discusses the dynamics of learning, explains the different opinions on the learning process and lays out the foundation for Constructivist learning, a modern approach advocated by the authors. Popular theories on the learning process are introduced through references and relevant examples.
The earliest theories explained learning as a behavioral process where the end goal was a desired response to a standard stimulus. On simpler terms, this means that the learner is expected to assimilate specific details of the subject and provide standard answers when presented with relevant problem scenarios. This aligns closely with the traditional form of teaching where the teacher instructs a subject matter through a planned set of topics, which the students need to prepare and understand with the objective of taking a test. The test provides feedback on the student's progress and in turn comes up with the output of the entire process. The authors argue that this mode of learning undervalues the importance of independent thinking and problem solving which are actually instrumental to succeed in the real world.
Cognitive theory stresses on the technical aspects of learning by using an intuitive model for information processing by the human mind. It carefully analyzes the different ways in which instructions are assimilated in memory and this approach paves the way for the theorists to propose efficient means of imparting knowledge. In Cognitive framework, learning is meaningful when it relates to existing knowledge and therefore it’s important to structure the instructions such that the learners are able to translate them meaningfully. The study of the mental aspect helps to overcome most of the shortcomings of the behavioral learning.
Constructivist learning is a modern principle that challenges the basic premise of the earlier theories by questioning their core philosophy. Both behavioral and cognitive theories define knowledge as an accurate description of the objective world. In contrast, constructivism assumes that knowledge is constructed by the students by means of their experience and introspection as they are exposed to new events and constructs through the learning process. Interpretation of objective facts by the individuals and the perspectives created through the lens of their prior experiences and beliefs defines knowledge.
As a result, constructivism identifies knowledge to be the result of an individual experience imparted more effectively in a collaborative environment and stimulated through the means of problem solving, peer review and attempting real-world, authentic tasks. The consequence of this philosophy is to view learning as a more complex endeavor compared to the other systems where the goal was simply to initiate the uninitiated with objective concepts. The teacher is a facilitator, someone who guides the students through the learning process by working together and solving problems in a collaborative environment as a mentor or a coach. This approach demands a higher level of sophistication in teaching and opens up an entire new area of research on the effective design of the curriculum.
The earliest theories explained learning as a behavioral process where the end goal was a desired response to a standard stimulus. On simpler terms, this means that the learner is expected to assimilate specific details of the subject and provide standard answers when presented with relevant problem scenarios. This aligns closely with the traditional form of teaching where the teacher instructs a subject matter through a planned set of topics, which the students need to prepare and understand with the objective of taking a test. The test provides feedback on the student's progress and in turn comes up with the output of the entire process. The authors argue that this mode of learning undervalues the importance of independent thinking and problem solving which are actually instrumental to succeed in the real world.
Cognitive theory stresses on the technical aspects of learning by using an intuitive model for information processing by the human mind. It carefully analyzes the different ways in which instructions are assimilated in memory and this approach paves the way for the theorists to propose efficient means of imparting knowledge. In Cognitive framework, learning is meaningful when it relates to existing knowledge and therefore it’s important to structure the instructions such that the learners are able to translate them meaningfully. The study of the mental aspect helps to overcome most of the shortcomings of the behavioral learning.
Constructivist learning is a modern principle that challenges the basic premise of the earlier theories by questioning their core philosophy. Both behavioral and cognitive theories define knowledge as an accurate description of the objective world. In contrast, constructivism assumes that knowledge is constructed by the students by means of their experience and introspection as they are exposed to new events and constructs through the learning process. Interpretation of objective facts by the individuals and the perspectives created through the lens of their prior experiences and beliefs defines knowledge.
As a result, constructivism identifies knowledge to be the result of an individual experience imparted more effectively in a collaborative environment and stimulated through the means of problem solving, peer review and attempting real-world, authentic tasks. The consequence of this philosophy is to view learning as a more complex endeavor compared to the other systems where the goal was simply to initiate the uninitiated with objective concepts. The teacher is a facilitator, someone who guides the students through the learning process by working together and solving problems in a collaborative environment as a mentor or a coach. This approach demands a higher level of sophistication in teaching and opens up an entire new area of research on the effective design of the curriculum.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Unit I - My summary on Dewey's Child & the Curriculum
John Dewey (1859-1952), puts forward his views and beliefs on education in his seminal work "Child & the Curriculum". He analyzes two competing ideas on the subject - teaching the child vs teaching the subject that divided US education in the early 20th century. In his essay, he first explores the opposing views and then argues on how the differences could be eventually resolved to construct a curriculum that can successfully meet the educator's objective.
In the process of examining the competing theories of education, Dewey examines a child's world and describes how it operates and how they learn naturally through the process of experiencing life. He realized from his personal experience and through active research that the structure of a child's mind in the context of learning is diametrically opposite to an adult. A child's thought doesn’t have the framework to classify and assimilate all the information that he is receiving. He is still in the process of developing the context to process all the information about the world that he is absorbing. His true interests lie with the surrounding people and relationships as opposed to concrete facts and laws.
According to Dewey, an ideal curriculum must meet the child on his own terms. It should provide him with the opportunity to explore experience and connect relevant information leading to learning the abstract principles and constructing the worldview, which should be the eventual goal of the curriculum. While espousing his theory, Dewey also reflects on the broader subjects of the anthropological, psychological and societal aspects of education.
Dewey finally concludes that the educators should stop trying to resolve the irresolvable ideas on teaching the child vs. teaching the subject and instead find a way to reframe the differences. He explains that both the subjects are actually parts of the same goal which he redefines as teaching through experience.
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In the process of examining the competing theories of education, Dewey examines a child's world and describes how it operates and how they learn naturally through the process of experiencing life. He realized from his personal experience and through active research that the structure of a child's mind in the context of learning is diametrically opposite to an adult. A child's thought doesn’t have the framework to classify and assimilate all the information that he is receiving. He is still in the process of developing the context to process all the information about the world that he is absorbing. His true interests lie with the surrounding people and relationships as opposed to concrete facts and laws.
According to Dewey, an ideal curriculum must meet the child on his own terms. It should provide him with the opportunity to explore experience and connect relevant information leading to learning the abstract principles and constructing the worldview, which should be the eventual goal of the curriculum. While espousing his theory, Dewey also reflects on the broader subjects of the anthropological, psychological and societal aspects of education.
Dewey finally concludes that the educators should stop trying to resolve the irresolvable ideas on teaching the child vs. teaching the subject and instead find a way to reframe the differences. He explains that both the subjects are actually parts of the same goal which he redefines as teaching through experience.
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