Problem-based Learning at 2014 CSE IPSG sharing

China Studies in English
CSE IPSG
Sharing 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: Economics
You 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 Examinations2012J2H12012 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:Userss7932422aDocumentsCSECase
studiesProblem Based Learning (2014).doc

Samples of Presentations
 C:Userss7932422aDocumentsCSEPBL
CSE Corruption PPT 13A09.pptx
 C:Userss7932422aDocumentsCSEPBL
CHina presentation Cross straits (1).pptx
 C:Userss7932422aDocumentsCSEPBLc
se 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.

Problem-based Learning at 2014 CSE IPSG sharing

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot (20)

Viewers also liked (18)

Similar to Problem-based Learning at 2014 CSE IPSG sharing (20)

More from Lester Lim (6)

Recently uploaded (20)

Problem-based Learning at 2014 CSE IPSG sharing