Problem-Based Learning

There are a great number of ways of designing both in-person and online learning experiences, and many of these also help encourage autonomy, mastery, and purpose. One such approach is Problem-Based Learning.

Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is an approach to instructional design that encourages students to think creatively and critically by engaging with real-world problems. Originally designed to help train medical students, in the Problem-Based Learning approach, students are presented with a problem and given guidance and support from the teacher as needed.

The students then use their knowledge, skills, and problem-solving abilities to find solutions to the given problem. This approach can be used to teach a variety of topics, from maths and science to history and literature, in both online and in-person learning environments.

Problem-Based Learning is great for online learning in particular. It helps students engage in a meaningful and relevant learning experience; they are encouraged to develop creative and critical solutions relevant to their own lives. It's also flexible, as students can work independently or in groups, as well as receive guidance and support from the teacher who works more as a facilitator than a traditional teacher.

In this way, PBL can allow students to work in a range of different ways, on engaging challenges and problems, with the teacher acting as a facilitator of the learning experience. This self-governed, student-centred, and skill-focused methodology is well-suited to online teaching contexts.

What characterises Problem-Based Learning is that it is:

A Problem-Based Learning example

Let’s look at an example of a Problem-Based Learning experience that could be run online.

In this example, an English Language teacher is looking to give their students an opportunity to develop their language skills in new and challenging ways. The teacher has clear learning aims in terms of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values.

They also know that their students like to be creative, enjoy interesting challenges, and like to do things that help others.

The problem the teacher develops is given to their students:

This Problem-Based Learning prompt is clear, specific, and time-limited, but only presents a problem to be solved without any specific requirements as to the solution students produce. For Problem-Based Learning experiences, it is common that students can work in groups to solve the problem, they have a clear time frame, a specific challenge, and their teachers’ support. However, it is up to them how they want to solve this particular problem.

The teacher would then take on the role of a facilitator - encouraging students, helping them find resources or materials, assisting with group work, and helping students resolve problems or difficulties. This allows students to produce a wide range of outcomes, whilst retaining ownership over the work that they do

There is space for creativity and problem-solving skills, and the collective nature of the working environment supports teamwork and collaboration skills.

The kind of solution students produce will also encourage emergent learning, learning that happens because of the choices students make but that aren’t planned for in advance.

For example, if a group of students were to decide to make a YouTube series to solve this problem, they might have to learn how to edit videos. This would be an example of emergent learning - things that students learn as a result of the freedom they have.

✏️  Activity: Solving the Teacher’s Problem

Think about the problem the teacher has given their students.

Make a list of 6 - 8 different ways students might have solved the problem.

What outcomes might they produce in response to this challenge?

For each solution, you come up with, identify some of the emergent learning that might have taken place - new knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values that a group of students might have developed by pursuing that particular solution.

For example, students who decide to make a YouTube series to solve the problem might have learnt how to edit videos. This would be an example of their emergent learning.

Advantages of Problem Based Learning

There are many advantages to giving students problems as the basis for learning experiences, including how PBL can develop autonomy, mastery, and purpose.

In Problem-Based Learning:

Reflection Questions

What other benefits might there be of making use of Problem-Based Learning?

What sorts of problems or challenges might you present your students with?