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Problem-based learning is a learner-centred educational approach with the potential to develop learners with integrated knowledge, collaborative teamwork skills and change readiness. This approach also helps learners acquire critical as well as creative thinking skills and life-long learning attributes, all of which are necessary for today’s global and fast-changing workplace.
The PBL Foundation Programme is a 3-day programme covering a series of face-to-face workshops on the following:
- Understanding PBL and Experiencing PBL
- Becoming a PBL Facilitator
- Curriculum Design for PBL
- Problem Design for PBL
- Assessment in PBL
Understanding and Experiencing PBL
This workshop explores the what and why of PBL by drawing upon conceptions of learning and making connections with the theoretical underpinnings of PBL. Participants will also experience the PBL process as learners in a simulated PBL facilitated session. This hands-on session will serve as a catalyst to generate discussion on issues arising from the use of the PBL approach from the learner’s perspective.
Becoming a PBL Facilitator
The role of the facilitator in a PBL context is a dynamic one. In this workshop, participants engage in the role of PBL facilitators, and experience facilitating various stages of the PBL process while working through a problem. Throughout there will be opportunities to reflect on their understanding of the dynamics of the facilitation process. Participants will also appreciate the PBL facilitator’s role, facilitation strategies and models of facilitation that can be deployed to manage a productive PBL environment.
Curriculum Design for PBL
Curriculum design for PBL is a crucial part of the process that generates a blueprint to guide the implementation of PBL in a programme of study. The planner needs to be cognisant of the key principles and issues surrounding the implementation of PBL in a curriculum in order to be able to make informed decisions. The various stages involved in designing a curriculum for PBL and the essential elements in the PBL process will also be identified. Participants will begin the process of curriculum design for PBL in their own programme of study by considering their own position and context, and formulating an initial plan for themselves.
Problem Design for PBL
One of the key drivers in a PBL curriculum is the ‘real-world problem’ scenario. A poorly designed problem will not encourage the enquiry process and will inhibit the achievement of the learning outcomes. How then should PBL problems be structured so that student learning, in the process of solving the problem, will be optimised? What support resources for the problem are required to guide facilitators during the process? Participants will have the opportunity to design their problem scenario and widen their perspectives of problem design through a sharing segment. They will also identify the support resources required and begin to work on generating them.
Assessment for PBL
Assessment practices in PBL need to be congruent with the principles and practices of PBL. This workshop examines how this can be achieved through a focus on common assessment methods in the context of PBL teaching and learning environments. Although the use of PBL aims to enhance student ability to utilize different process skills, in particular effective group work, ensuring that they are assessed effectively is vital to achieving some of the aims of PBL. Another important consideration is formative assessment and how students learn from feedback.
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