"Prior Knowledge Activation for Active PBL Discussions"is a crucial step in engaging students

and fostering meaningful discussions during problem-based learning activities (Perspectives, 2023).

Integrating Problem–Based Learning And Technology In Education

Views 2,057,132Updated

Integrating Problem–based Learning and Technology in

Education
George Watson

Motivation for Our Efforts

When business and industry leaders identify desirable attributes
in prospective employees—our current students—the list
generally includes the following elements (Wingspread
Conference, 1994):

 High level of communication skills

 Ability to define problems, gather and evaluate information, and
develop solutions
 Team skills, that is, ability to work with others
 Ability to use all of the above to address problems in a complex
real-world setting
How can we help our students achieve these goals? Studies
have shown that collaborative learning—learning centered on
student groups—is a superior approach for developing the
enhanced set of skills students need after they leave formal
education. Research shows that collaborative learning results in
both academic success (i.e., higher achievement, including
knowledge acquisition, accuracy, creativity in problem solving,
and higher reasoning level) and positive attitude effects
(persistence toward goals, intrinsic motivation, transfer of
learning to other situations, and staying longer on tasks)
 (Johnson, Johnson, & Smith, 1998). In short, keeping the
learning focused on students via collaborative learning helps us
achieve the desired goals listed above.
Many of us have commented along this line: “I really learned my
discipline when I taught the material.” When instructors prepare
traditional courses for the first time, they engage with the course
material as they hope their students do. Unfortunately, in
traditional classrooms, the individuals learning the most are
often the new instructors. Huba and Freed (2000) pointed out
that instructors preparing for traditional course delivery “have
reserved for themselves the very conditions that promote
learning,” which include:

 actively seeking new information

 integrating it with what is known
 organizing it in a meaningful way
 having a chance to explain it to others

In a Problem–based learning classroom, we seek to provide our

students with these same opportunities for learning.

Integrating Information Technology and

Problem–based Learning
Problem–based learning (PBL) is an instructional method that
challenges students to learn to learn through working
cooperatively in groups to seek solutions to real-world problems
(Duch, Groh, & Allen, 2001). These problems are used to
engage students' curiosity and to initiate learning of the subject
matter. At its most fundamental level, PBL is characterized by
the use of real-world problems as a context for students to learn
critical thinking and problem-solving skills and to acquire
knowledge of the essential concepts of the course. Using PBL,
students acquire lifelong learning skills, which include the ability
to find and use appropriate learning resources, certainly
important in the ever-changing world increasingly based on
information technology.
0 of 1 minute, 4 secondsVolume 0%

Next

Stay

Can information technology promote success in PBL courses?

Or rather, should we consider the question if PBL can promote
success in mastering technology objectives? Increasing
numbers of instructors in higher education are beginning to look
beyond content objectives for their courses. At the University of
Delaware, the Institute for Transforming Undergraduate
Education (ITUE) encourages faculty to embrace the process
objectives, or active learning (AL) objectives, listed in Table 1,
regardless of the content objectives of their courses. PBL has
been identified as an approach that helps faculty guide students
toward these objectives.
In addition, universities and colleges are beginning to articulate
goals for their students in the area of information technology. An
excellent example of instructional technology (IT) objectives
comes from George Mason University in its Technology Across
the Curriculum program (Table 2), where technology is
promoted to enhance learning so that all students will be able to
achieve common objectives.
Coupled with the content objectives for a course, the two sets of
objectives above pose an intimidating and overwhelming task
for the typical
Active learning (AL) objectives
Undergraduate courses should:
AL be student-centered and encourage students to learn to learn
1
AL
provide opportunities to think critically and to analyze and solve problems
2
AL
assist students in developing skills in gathering and evaluating information
3
AL
provide experience of working cooperatively in teams and small groups
4
AL
help students acquire versatile and effective communication skills
5
AL
offer a variety of learning experiences
6
AL
apply technology effectively so that it will enhance learning
7
Instructional technology (IT) objectives
Source: Modified slightly from the ten goals articulated by George Mason University in its
Technology Across the Curriculum program.
Courses should:
IT1 engage in electronic collaboration
IT2 use and create structured electronic documents
IT3 make use of technology-enhanced presentations
IT4 use appropriate electronic tools for research and evaluation
IT5 use spreadsheets and databases to manage information
IT6 use electronic tools for analyzing quantitative and qualitative data
IT7 identify major legal, ethical, and security issues in information technology
IT8 provide a working knowledge of instructional technology platforms

instructor. Fortunately, the AL objectives and the IT objectives

project well onto each other, as shown in Figure 1 for the first
six objectives in each list. As an example of overlapping
objectives, consider that the active learning objective of critical
thinking and problem solving (AL2) is supported by the
technology objectives of analyzing data (IT6), research and
evaluation (IT4), and managing information (IT5). Similarly, the
technology objective of electronic collaboration (IT1) is well
served by the active learning objectives of gathering and
evaluating information (AL3), student-centeredness and
learning to learn (AL1), communication skills (AL5), and group
cooperation (AL4).
Clearly, the marriage of PBL and instructional technology is
important for student learning. How can technology aid student
learning in a PBL course? How can PBL aid students in using
technology to learn? The answers to these questions expand
each semester as technology advances and our ideas for
integrating it with PBL evolve.
Many instructors have adopted course web sites and web
pages to organize their courses and to deliver course materials
to their students. Web-authoring
tools have become easier to use, and growing numbers of
technology support staff and centers on campuses have
facilitated the publication of materials on the Web. The use of
the Web in PBL courses plays a critical role in their success in
two major areas: (1) organizing the PBL course and (2) the use
of online resources to support the PBL course.

Using Course Web Sites to Organize PBL

Courses
As shown in Figure 2, a course web site helps organize a PBL
course in several areas: (1) organizing the syllabus, (2)
organizing groups, and (3) organizing student projects and
reports. Many ideas for using a web site to organize a PBL
course can be found by examining online syllabi for other
courses. An advantage of the availability of course materials on
the Web is the opportunity to adapt and incorporate suitable
materials into one's own web site, with appropriate recognition
and credit to the authors and instructors who created the
materials. An example of an online syllabus for an introductory
PBL science course is SCEN103 “Silicon, Circuits, and
the Digital Revolution”
at www.physics.udel.edu/̃watson/scen103/colloq2000.
Instructors experienced in teaching PBL courses recognize that
a critical element of success is achieving students' identification
and bonding with the process. A significant amount of time
should be spent explaining the process of PBL, why it is
important for learning in the course, and the support structures
that are available to help students achieve success. Actually,
there is often more material available than can be comfortably
reviewed in a given class devoted to introducing PBL. A web
site makes it expedient to provide as much supporting material
to students as one wishes, without burdening them with
additional discussion or superfluous paper during class time. In
addition to schedule and contact information traditionally
included in a syllabus, many informative pages can be linked
from the syllabus web page, as listed in Table 3.
Organizing communication with the class, particularly with
groups, can be readily facilitated electronically. Efficient
communication between the group (rather than just one
member) and the professor and with each other has been
evolving with the development of increasingly powerful
technology solutions. A decade ago, the available alternatives
were limited to electronic bulletin boards and newsgroups.
These tools were limited in their effectiveness, often because of
poor usability. The first breakthrough in managing groups online
came from ventures such as eGroups.com (now available
as groups.yahoo.com), which provided relatively easy-to-use
interfaces for organizing small groups, chat rooms, file sharing,
and
Examples of supporting information that can be linked from an online syllabus for a
Problem–based learning (PBL) course
Instructor?s teaching philosophy
Detailed course objectives (both content and process)
General education goals
Motivation and description of PBL
Problem-solving process and strategies
Roles and responsibilities of students, peer tutors, and instructor
List of frequently asked questions about PBL and working in groups
Forms for assessment of individual performance in groups
Some thoughts on grading
Anonymous suggestion box and responses to suggestions
Academic services center
Policies on academic dishonesty and responsible computing

scheduling meetings. Course management systems (CMS),

designed primarily for distance learning, now provide superior
packages for organizing and communicating with groups. These
packages include controlled discussion forums, collaborative
space, and whiteboarding capabilities. An additional attractive
feature of a typical CMS is the ability to control the release of a
document based on a previous action of a student or group—
perfect for staging a PBL problem in a distance learning
environment.
Clearly, organizing electronic communication for student groups
and providing communication tools via a CMS empower
students to engage in electronic collaboration (IT1), an
important technology objective. Since cooperative learning is
fundamental to PBL and instructors are responsible for ensuring
that appropriate channels of communication are available for
group collaboration, satisfying this objective helps bring success
to the PBL classroom. Indeed, a PBL course makes an
excellent context for students to develop skills in mastering
tools for electronic collaboration.
At the conclusion of a problem, groups are typically required to
report their findings to the class or prepare a written product for
the instructor's review. In a PBL-intensive course, the weekly
cycle of problem/work/report can take a toll on student
enthusiasm and energy. Relying on a variety of reporting
mechanisms, an instructor can alleviate this difficulty, while at
the same time satisfying several additional technology
objectives. Students can be encouraged or required to use
presentation software to report their findings in class, thus
satisfying objective IT3. Alternatively, groups may prepare a
collaborative web site with multiple, interlinked web pages, thus
exercising objective IT2. Unquestionably, a well-organized
course web site presenting a wealth of hyperlinked material will
provide students with an excellent model of structure and ease
of navigation to emulate. A quantitative requirement within the
final product, such as a graph or table, will offer students an
opportunity to use graphing or spreadsheet programs,
exercising objective IT5. Additional requirements of multimedia
elements in their presentations will lead students to create
images and use editing software.

Using Online Resources to Support PBL

Courses
As shown in Figure 3, online resources can support a PBL
course in several ways: by providing (1) ingredients for writing
problems, (2) inspiration for problem design, and (3) information
for solving problems.
The availability of engaging, relevant real-world problems is a
critical element in the success of a PBL course. In the absence
of suitable problems, an instructor is compelled to write his or
her own problems, often needing inspiration and raw
ingredients—here the Web abounds with support!Inspiration for
a problem can come from international newspapers, often more
readily available online than as newsprint in the campus library.
Online newspapers from the region of a breaking story offer a
local flavor and additional human interest that are hard to create
otherwise. The variety of global views and regional perspectives
can elevate the different stakeholders in a given situation or
scenario, making them more interesting and more “real.” If
extreme positions are sought, the Web is replete with fanatic
and quack sites, which should provide ample raw materials to
fuel a good problem statement. Scripts and character materials
are available from a large number of film and television web
sites. Basing a problem on a popular media character or
situation familiar to students may transform a good idea into a
more engaging scenario for their consideration.
Ingredients for the problem design and statement can originate
from a variety of sources. Background facts to support a
problem can be effortlessly
obtained from networked databases made available by
university and other libraries. Online encyclopedias and
almanacs provide additional biographical and geographical
information needed to portray the scenario as accurately as
possible. Scholarly journals have also become more readily
available online, making access to the latest results in a
discipline just a few keystrokes away.
Of course, students naturally turn to the Web in pursuit of
information to solve the problems in a PBL course. Objective
IT4 on using appropriate tools for research and evaluation is
naturally fulfilled in an intensive PBL course. The old thinking
that the Web is full of misinformation and biased representation
that students should avoid in serious research must be put
aside. The new thinking should be that the Web is an excellent
proving ground for engaging and developing critical thinking
skills. Evaluating online resources critically and executing web
searches effectively are important lessons to learn for students
being prepared to be lifelong learners.

Faculty Development in PBL and

Partnerships for Integrating Technology
Despite the advantages that PBL offers in improving the
learning experience, its adoption as a mode of instruction is a
change not to be undertaken lightly. Giving up the safety and
authority of the lecture can be unsettling for instructors
accustomed only to a traditional lecture format. In addition, a
lack of suitable material and problems designed for use in a
Problem–based format serves as a barrier to instructors who
are ready to take up the challenge of PBL. The importance of
faculty training in PBL and development of an appropriate
curriculum cannot be overstated.
In PBL training workshops provided by ITUE, we model what
we promote by presenting PBL methodology using appropriate
technology and web resources. Our workshops introduce PBL
concepts using the same active-learning and student-centered
approaches that we advocate. We start each week-long session
with an opportunity for faculty participants to work in small
groups for a day, solving an engaging PBL problem and
working through the process, much like students in a typical
PBL course. By applying elements of our own philosophy, such
as active engagement and appropriate use of technology, to the
creation and implementation of our workshops, we have
engaged faculty and modeled techniques that promise to
transform higher education.
Our faculty participants appreciate exploring active learning
techniques through an experiential approach, a hallmark of the
successful ITUE experience. We do not simply lecture about the
techniques, laying out their underlying educational theory and
benefits, but rather participants experience the power of PBL
and other teaching strategies directly. Using active learning
strategies in faculty development programs as often as feasible
is beneficial, even essential. They not only benefit participants'
learning but model new approaches for participants who may
not have yet encountered them. Having experienced these
techniques firsthand, faculty are better able to incorporate them
into their own teaching. By interacting intensely in small groups
with their peers, they form relationships that go beyond
departmental barriers and provide a conducive environment for
discussing curriculum change.
In general, two types of instructors have been attracted to
participate in ITUE workshops: those interested in PBL and
those interested in using the Web and other technologies in
their teaching. Their transformation during the week-long
session has often been striking. Those coming primarily for the
technology portion (and for supplemental funding to facilitate
their acquisition of more technology) had their eyes opened to
the possibility of PBL and other student-centered strategies.
Those coming primarily for PBL saw how online resources can
be used to facilitate student learning in their courses and were
empowered both to design problems using rich online resources
and to publish course materials on the Web for their students.
ITUE has continued with this two-pronged approach to faculty
development, which has, in our opinion, been an essential
element in its success.
PRESENT (Practical Resources for Educators Seeking
Effective New Technologies) is the teaching, learning, and
technology center at the University of Delaware. It resembles a
collaborative classroom and includes workstations and
equipment for exploring uses of technology in teaching. The
underlying philosophy of PRESENT is that identification of
learning goals should always precede application of technology.
Although PRESENT is where faculty initially come for technical
assistance, they receive educational expertise as well. In
developing an active learning course, for example, it becomes
important to think creatively about the variety of ways—often
effectively facilitated through technology—in which students can
engage in interactions with the instructor, fellow students, and
the course content.
Collaboration between ITUE and PRESENT began naturally as
ITUE leaders enlisted the expertise of PRESENT staff to assist
with the technology portion of the training. When ITUE training
sessions end, PRESENT staff members continue to be
available to consult and to provide ongoing reinforcement not
only of technology but also of active learning strategies.
PRESENT offers seminars all year round, demonstrating
examples of applying technology to PBL when appropriate.
Instructional technology training includes active learning
components so that faculty participate as students would in an
actual class and make suggestions for how the tools should be
used to achieve the desired learning goals.
As a specific example demonstrating the partnership between
ITUE and PRESENT, PRESENT staff members and ITUE
leaders have taught side by side in our WebCT/Active Learning
Institute. ITUE contributors illustrated how they used specific
tools in their classes and, together with PRESENT staff, led
participants through exercises designed to connect those tools
to their own courses. In a class on WebCT Communication
tools, Valerie Hans, a faculty member in sociology and criminal
justice, presented a problem on justice for suspected terrorist
detainees. Participants, divided into groups, used the online
discussion group within a WebCT course to consider the
various options available for justice. In another exercise, they
used the discussion group to come up with questions for an
expert in international terrorism. Subsequently, these questions
were posed to a local expert on terrorism in a WebCT chat
room.
Partnerships such as this one are essential in implementing
technology-enhanced curricular reform. This partnership
continues to flourish through sharing of the same vision,
promoting and participating in each other's activities, and
recognizing the efforts of each other. Administrators, librarians,
faculty, and anyone charged with using technology to support
learning should identify potential partners on their own campus
and nurture a synergistic relationship that benefits the entire
campus.

Recent Work on PBL at University of

Delaware
Funding from external sources—the National Science
Foundation, the Fund for Improvement of Post-Secondary
Education, and the Pew Charitable Trusts—combined with local
matching commitments have made possible many of the
developments in PBL at the University of Delaware. Of course,
external funding is not a requirement for implementing PBL on
any campus;however, it did provide us with the means for
infusing the concept at our institution more rapidly, for quickly
creating and sustaining an effective faculty development effort,
and for reaching the global community interested in PBL.
In addition to continued sponsorship of PBL conferences and
faculty development workshops, university and external funding
continues to drive development of PBL at our campus. Two of
our current activities are highlighted in the following.

PBL Clearinghouse
One major barrier we encountered in the adoption of PBL by
educators was the dearth of available problems suitable for use.
With local programming support, we embarked on an electronic
database of PBL problems and materials known as the PBL
Clearinghouse. The problems and articles are peer-reviewed by
PBL experts in the relevant disciplinary content areas. Teaching
notes and supplemental materials accompany each problem,
providing insights and strategies that are innovative and
classroom-tested. Access to the PBL Clearinghouse collection
is limited to educators who register via an online application, but
it is free and carries no obligation. More than 5,000 users from
all regions of the world have registered to use the PBL
Clearinghouse, which now makes available more than 50
problems and continues to grow at several problems per month.
Currently, the majority of problems focus on biology, physics,
and chemistry, but the database has expanded into the
humanities and social sciences. The PBL Clearinghouse is
open to any educators who are looking for a suitable venue to
publish the PBL material they have developed.

Wireless Computing in PBL Classrooms

We are fortunate to have classrooms specially designed for
PBL, with reconfigurable trapezoidal tables and comfortable
rolling chairs. These classrooms range in size from 36 to 72
seats. Given the constraints of movable furniture and the
diverse use of the rooms, it had not been feasible to have
access to the Internet for doing research during class in these
classrooms. Thus, the need for research was often synonymous
with early adjournment of groups from class. To alleviate this
problem, two PBL classrooms were equipped with 16 laptops
each, with wireless connectivity to the Internet. The wireless
laptops are made available to facilitate collaborative learning, so
access to only one or two laptops per group is not a problem,
but rather a virtue (and saves costs too!).
One professor reported her use of the wireless laptops for
online research, data analysis, and access to a CMS as follows:
The laptops proved to be very valuable throughout this group
work. Most importantly, from my perspective, it allowed some of
the critical phases to be done in class with all group members
present and with me available to give advice and direction.
… When my groups began their projects, they were able to do
the initial work in class, searching [University of Delaware]
library resources, online databases, and the Web for relevant
articles and other material. I believe this equalized the input of
group members during the initial research. So often, in group
work, a particular person will be assigned to do the research
independently and bring it back to the group. The group work
can stall until that happens, but with the laptops allowing
immediate in-class searching, the group work was facilitated.
Having the laptops in class also allowed all group members to
participate in the development of the scenario and questions,
while one or more people in the group typed into a file, which
was then placed using WebCT into a group discussions folder,
making it available for further editing and use by all group
members.
When students came to class with their data, we used…data
analysis [software] … to compare and contrast the responses to
their experimental and control scenarios. Again, that was done
in class (as opposed to one or more people assuming this
responsibility outside of class, or arranging for an out-of-class
meeting) and I was able to go around the room to the groups
and work with them on their analyses.
Finally, students put together PowerPoint presentations, which
included figures and graphs, using the laptops, and posted
them to the class using the WebCT Discussions tool.
Funding for this project was made available by the University of
Delaware through its grant program Advanced and Emerging
Technologies in Instructional Contexts, administered by the
Center for Teaching Effectiveness.

Conclusion
PBL at the University of Delaware was advanced with the
creation of ITUE to promote reform of undergraduate education
through faculty development and course design. ITUE leaders
drive the development of other educators by sharing ideas for
transforming courses through incorporating effective techniques
for the promotion of active learning and the use of technology in
the classroom. If you are not already underway in a strong
partnership for faculty development, we encourage you to
likewise add a strong faculty development component to your
efforts to help promote the growth and adoption of PBL as an
instructional approach, underpinned by appropriate use of
technology.
The rapid and relentless pace of technological development
certainly makes it difficult to stay abreast of the latest
applications of instructional technology. Nevertheless, it is
critical that we lay a strong foundation in our education
programs on which to build the latest developments in
technology. PBL offers a secure foundation on the shores of
pedagogy from which to build our education reform initiatives.
Without that strong anchor, our reform efforts risk collapse on
the shifting sand of technology.
… like a wise man who built his house on a rock. The rain fell,
the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that
house, but it did not collapse because its foundation was on the
rock.
… like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell,
the floods came, and the winds blew and battered that house,
and it collapsed, and its collapse was devastating.
(Parable of the two builders, Matthew 7: 24–27,
International Standard Version)
Acknowledgments
With grateful acknowledgments to Deborah Allen, Janet de Vry,
Barbara Duch, Susan Groh, Valerie Hans, and Harold White.

References
Duch, B. J., Groh, S. E., & Allen, D. E. (2001). The power of
Problem–based learning. Sterling, VA: Stylus.
George Mason University College of Arts and Sciences
(2003). Technology across the curriculum.
http://cas.gmu.edu/tac.
Huba, M. E., & Freed, J. E. (2000). Learner-centered
assessment on college campuses: Shifting the focus from
teaching to learning. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Institute for Transforming Undergraduate
Education. http://www.udel.edu/inst.
Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T., & Smith, K. A. (1998).
Cooperative learning returns to college: What evidence is there
that it works? Change, 30, 26–35.
PBL Clearinghouse. http://www.udel.edu/pblc.
PRESENT at University of
Delaware. http://www.udel.edu/present.
Problem–based Learning at University of
Delaware. http://www.udel.edu/pbl.
Wingspread Conference (1994). Quality assurance in
undergraduate education: What the public expects. Denver,
CO: Education Commission of the States.