ProblemBased Task Knowledge Structure in Projects

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Problem-Based Task Knowledge Structure in Projects

• Dr Lorna Uden
• School of Computing, Staffordshire University,
• Beaconside, Stafford, ST18 0AD. UK
• Phone [phone]
• Fax [phone]
• E-mail L.Uden_at_staffs.ac.UK

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• Talk
• Introduction
• Problem-Based Learning
• Task Knowledge Structure
• PBTKS Method
• Outcomes
• Conclusion

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• Introduction- Students Projects
• Final year project constitutes four modules,
  worth forty credits.
• Students need project management skills, research
  skills, analysis, design, implementation,
  testing, documentation and critical evaluation
  skills and independent learning skills.
• Students typically lack them.

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Problem-Based Learning

• PBL, according to Barrows is, " ... the
  learning which results from the process of
  working towards the understanding of, or
  resolution of, a problem." Barrows describes
  the main educational goals as
• To develop students' thinking or reasoning skills
  (problem solving, meta-cognition, critical
  thinking) and
• To help the students become independent,
  self-directed learners (learning to learn,
  learning management).

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Paradigm shift from traditional learning models
to Problem-based learning model.

• Traditional learning model.
• Teacher as expert model
• textbook as primary source
• facts as primary
• information is packaged
• emphasis on product
• assessment is quantitative.

• Problem-based learning.
• Teacher as facilitator/guide
• variety of sources/media
• question as primary
• information is discovered
• emphasis on process
• assessment is quantitative/qualitative

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• In Problem-Based Learning, teachers encourage
  students to
• be active, not passive in learning
• engage in inquiry approach to learning
• accept responsibility for their own learning
• develop problem-solving, decision-making and
  evaluation skills and
• develop a broad outlook on the world.

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• Students develop the ability to
• recognise bias
• make systematic comparisons
• form and defend opinions
• identify and develop alternative solutions
• solve problems independently and
• use responsible behaviour.

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• PBL is powerful because
• it is a learning environment that embodies most
  of the principles that we know improve learning
  active, cooperating, getting prompt feedback,
  tailored to students learning performance with
  student empowerment and accountability
• it forces students to learn the fundamental
  principles of the subject in the context of
  needing it to solve a problem
• it offers an opportunity to practice, use and
  even develop such processing skills as problem
  solving, interpersonal, group and team skills,
  the ability to cope with change, lifelong or
  self-directed learning skills and self assessment
  skills.

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• Benefits of PBL include
• increased retention of data
• integration of knowledge
• life-long learning motivation to learn
• development of reasoning and critical thinking
  skills
• development of communication and interpersonal
  skills
• development of the ability to work effectively in
  a team.

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• Task Knowledge Structures
• Task knowledge is represented in a persons
  memory and can be described by a Task Knowledge
  Structure (TKS).
• TKSs are assumed to be acquired through learning
  and previous task performances, and are
  dynamically represented in memory.
• Is akin to the theoretical position taken by
  Schank in assuming that the knowledge of
  frequently occurring events is structured into
  meaningful units in memory.

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• Empirical support for this assumption can be
  found in the work of Galambos, who showed that
  people recognise and use structures of events,
  such as the order, the sequence and importance of
  activities within the event sequence, to
  understand, explain, and make predictions about
  these events.
• TKS is activated in association with task
  performance.
• People acquire knowledge about tasks and
  subsequently transfer this knowledge to new or
  different tasks

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• Usability and learnability are directly related
  to the amount of knowledge that the person is
  able to transfer from one task to another.
• A TKS is related to other TKSs by a number of
  different relations, which include temporal or
  experimental relations.
• TKS theory provides a method for the analysis and
  modeling of the tasks in terms of goals,
  procedures, actions and objects.
• Within each TKS, different types of knowledge are
  represented.

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• PBTKS Method
• Task knowledge structures
• 1 .Explore the problem
• 2 Set hypothesis
• 3. Identify learning issues
• 4. Plan actions
• 5. Search and collate resources
• 6. Generate and elaborate hypothesis and solution
• 7. Evaluate the solution and re-examine the
  problem
• 8. Revise hypothesis and learning issues and
  repeat steps 4-8.

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• Outcomes
• increased retention of data
• integration of knowledge
• development of reasoning and critical thinking
  skills
• Develop research and project management skills
• Develop self-directed learning skills
• Enjoyed learning for the first time
• Grades typically first or upper 21

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• Feedback -about the method
• It helped me how to solve problems, how to
  question myself on what and why I do certain
  things. It makes learning a very enjoyable
  process.
• It is the best thing I ever learned in my life.
• I have learned how to identify big issues which
  are relevant to the problem.
• I learned to expand my research skills in order
  to find new sources.

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• I applied the method to my other studies
• I learned to isolate what I did not understand,
  research it to comprehension, and present new
  information.
• When presented with a problem, I now consider
  what I do not understand, and attack the problem
  from there.
• I developed an ability to reason through
  material I did not understand.

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• Long-term benefits
• I am still applying the method to my work at
  BT.
• I used it to solve software problems and managed
  to reduce workload by three-quarters.
• I have used it to learn new new software and my
  boss was amazed at the progress I made.
• I used it to help me problem solving when
  dealing with clients.
• I can now solve problems much better.

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Conclusion

• Students need problem-solving, critical thinking
  and self- directed learning skills
• Students normally lack these skills
• We expect students to learn, but never show them
  how
• Strategies are needed to help students to
  acquire metacognition skills
• PBTKS proves to be effective