ProblemBased Learning: Opportunities, Challenges and Future Forms

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Problem-Based LearningOpportunities,
Challenges and Future Forms

• Jens O. Riis
• Center for Industrial Production
• Aalborg University
• riis_at_iprod.aau.dk

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Problem-Based Learning has gained Momentum

• Aalborg University has used PBL for 30 years
• Each semester a student group carries out a
  project, amounting to 50 of the work load
• Ordinary courses provide background for the
  project
• Many universities have adopted a problem-based
  learning approach
• Different ways of realizing problem-based
  learning
• For example, ways of combining a problem-based
  and a discipline-oriented learning approach
• We should look to the future
• What can be done to improve our engineering
  education in the light of challenges to
  industrial enterprises?

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Problem-Based Learning in Brief

• Starts with an open issue
• Analysis and diagnosis of the situation
• Understanding the current mode of operations
• Several actors (stakeholders) and perspectives
• Defining and scoping the problem to be addressed
• The most important things are invisible to the
  eyes. Only the heart can capture the essential
  Saint Exupéry The little Prince
• Development of one or more holistic solutions
• Develop alternative solutions based on different
  scenarios
• Different time horizons produce different
  solutions
• Implementation
• To engage the company into the project
• To address implementation issues from the very
  beginning
• Team-work plays a major role

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Reflection and Experimentation are Key

• To complete the Kolb learning cycle
• To combine theoretical speculation and
  learning-by-doing
• Reflection
• Seeking a pattern in practice by using
  theoretical models
• Experimentation
• To acquire new knowledge by carrying out
  experiments through tests of ideas and models in
  practice

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Tacit and Explicit Knowledge

• Nonaka Takeuchi
• Tacit and Explicit Knowledge
• Individual and Collective
• Competence in dealing with a complex issue can
  only be acquired by experimentation and
  reflection
• Analogy Training a football team
• Both tacit and explicit knowledge
• Both individual and collective knowledge

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Engineering Competencies

• We need to apply different pedagogical means
• Good lectures will always be appreciated
• Can provide a useful overview and a broad
  discussion
• An opportunity to expose the teachers values,
  attitudes and skills
• Assignments and exercises give deep understanding
• Provides a test of understanding when working
  actively with a problem
• Games, cases and simulations help understand
  mutual interactions
• They may help students with little industrial
  experience to understand the complex interplay of
  elements
• Projects address professional proficiency
• Analyzing and defining a complex issue
• Developing concepts and solutions
• Include implementation issues

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Issues related to Practice of PBL - 1

• Built-in robustness in most educational systems
• Students are eager to learn
• Teachers are dedicated to their profession
• To understand the complex nature of an industrial
  issue
• Problem Matrix requires a great effort
• Simulation games and role playing provide a good
  understanding
• Analysis and diagnosis
• Design of new solutions

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Issues related to Practice of PBL - 2

• Implementation
• Getting the project company involved
• Develop a commonly shared understanding of the
  current situation
• Collecting and combining solution ideas
• Experimental Lab (Learning Lab) used for company
  workshops
• A balance between case-company and learning
• Students are often too eager to help the
  project-case company, and they forget to reflect
  on their learning
• They become motivated by the relevance of their
  effort
• Proposed solutions are dominated by common sense

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Issues related to Practice of PBL - 3

• Advisors often guide students in the direction of
  their own area of specialization
• Dilemma Specialization leads to papers - A broad
  approach leads to good graduates
• Repairmen rather than innovators
• Short-term wins and continuous improvements
• Creativity should be stimulated
• Think-aloud room, e.g. Experimental Lab

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Scenarios for Future Education

• Message Increased focus on the learning process
• We need to stimulate reflection and
  experimentation
• We should acknowledge that learning happens in
  many places
• A students reflection diary
• Interplay with a tutor or a mentor
• A different project report
• The main report should include reflections and
  experimentations during the project
• Results should be documented and argued for in a
  company report (Appendix)
• Modeling is key
• Developing a model synthesizes individual
  knowledge
• A model can be a vehicle for collective learning

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Discussion of challenges in designing engineering
education

• There are many dilemmas in designing education
• Focus on the results and on the learning process
• Theoretical foundation and practical
  proficiencies
• Single disciplined and multi-perspective
• Individual and collective learning
• For teachers Own research versus a
  multi-perspective approach to teaching
• The use of IT
• How can problem-based learning be supported by
  ICT and e-learning?
• Stimulate reflection individual and collective
• Modeling makes learning more explicit

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Conclusion

• Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is gaining momentum
• Observations from the practice of PBL
• Students are too eager to propose immediate gains
  in their project case-company
• Focus on short-term improvements rather than on
  innovative holistic scenarios
• Proposed improvements Increased focus on the
  learning process
• A students reflection diary
• The main project report should include
  reflections and experimentations
• The results should be included in a company
  report
• Modeling is key both for individual and
  collective learning
• Innovative solutions should be stimulated