China Studies in English

CSE IPSGSharing on the use of PBL

23th March 2014

Key Elements of PBL Real-world problems that foster inquiry

and embody key concepts; Choices about content as well as ways to

learn and share; Experiences in small-group collaboration; Occasions to revise, modify, and

elaborate on findings; Opportunities to obtain pre-, formative and

summative assessment information.

Key Elements of PBL A clear and easy-to-follow curricular

structure centered on authentic problems and inquiry.

Engagement in planning of, monitoring of, and self-reflection on work, progress, and results;

Feedback students receive from classmates and teachers during rehearsals of final findings;

Key Elements of PBL Objectives reflecting the highest of

intellectual challenges, including the need to pose questions, conduct purposeful research, think critically, make decisions, and draw reasonable conclusions supported with evidence.

Teachers and students sharing control of decision making, teaching, and learning;

Source: John Barell, “Problem-Based Learning: The Foundation for 21st Century Skills”, James Bellanca & Ron Brandt (Eds.), 21st Century Skills: Rethinking How Students Learn (Bloomington: Solution Tree Press, 2010)

PBL Scenario: EconomicsYou are an African nation that desires a substantial loan from the World Bank. Your goal is to convince the World Bank that your country’s needs are great and you deserve a loan. The World Bank has a limited amount to lend and many other countries are asking for loans. Therefore, you must prepare a strong case for receiving a loan and be able to defend your need for the money. (Barrell, 2003, p.145)

PBL Scenario: Literature You are authors for a new publication on

contributions of 19th century women authors. Readers are interested in the importance of the ideas of Anthony, Woolf, Stowe, Stanton and knowing what they might say about issues today. Readers will highly value your ability to state these authors’ views clearly, analyze their importance, and make reasonable applications to and comparisons with one major current issue. Reasonable comparisons will be judged by logic, appropriateness, extensiveness of relationships, and drawing your own conclusions. (Adapted from Royer, 2000)

..\Internal Examinations\2012\J2H1\2012 J2 H1 CSE Common Test.doc

Guidelines to Follow

Scaffolding is important in allowing students to approach the question/scenario in a more systematic manner;

Difficulty of guided questions have to be in ascending order;

Focus on the “whats”, “whens”, “whos” and “wheres” first, followed by the “whys” and “hows”.

Guidelines to Follow

Real situations have to be used, and details have to be given to facilitate research;

Minimize guidance from teachers to allow for independent and/or collaborative learning;

Allow the use of ICT to facilitate research; Groups can present their research findings

via Powerpoint.

PBL Exercises

C:\Users\s7932422a\Documents\CSE\Case studies\Problem Based Learning (2014).doc

Samples of Presentations

C:\Users\s7932422a\Documents\CSE\PBL\CSE Corruption PPT 13A09.pptx

C:\Users\s7932422a\Documents\CSE\PBL\CHina presentation Cross straits (1).pptx

C:\Users\s7932422a\Documents\CSE\PBL\cse ppt.pptx

Benefits of PBL

Students can research on issues pertaining to China (builds up contextual knowledge);

Students are able to work on evaluation and analytical skills;

Sharing of information and evaluation helps to reduce teachers’ workload;

Develops students’ competency in independent and collaborative learning.

Benefits of PBL Requirements of the postulation is broken

up into progressive stages. Students can see more sense in answering this type of question;

Skills picked up by students are transferable to other papers, e.g. Evaluation is applicable in essays and Independent Study, while research skills are essential for Independent Study.

Challenges Faced

Students may come up with unrealistic ideas, e.g. building a bridge to join Taiwan and China;

Students focus on specific details as recommendations, e.g. using ECFA to improve cross-strait ties;

Students tend to focus more on the facts than on evaluation.

Students’ Feedback

Students are generally not used to such unconventional ways of conducting a tutorial. They need time to adapt.

Refreshing to have multiple perspectives on the same topic. Different from regular tutorials and lessons.

PPT is not a must to present the topics.

Conclusion

The use of PBL is in-sync with the objectives of CSE as a subject that promotes 21st Century Skills;

It helps to unwrap the requirements of a postulation question for easier understanding;

Students find more relevance in textbook knowledge.