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.

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

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

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.