Teachers role in PBL: The role of the teacher

Moderated by:Anette Kolmos (Aalborg University, Denmark)  

Summary:

PBL implementation in different contexts and disciplines led to a variety of models, practices and approaches to learning. Even though PBL has the student in the center of the learning process and as an active agent, teachers also play an important role. For example, teachers can assume roles as designers and evaluators of curriculum transformation; they can assume roles in support students’ learning and motivation or act as “providers of real world scenarios to drive learning. In this session, three papers will provide point of departure for a discussion on, for example, how does teachers perceive their role and performance in different problem-based learning environments? How versatile and dynamic is the teacher role?

Presentation no. 1: 

The role of the teacher in a PBL teaching process by Mette Møller Jeppesen, Henrik Worm Routhe, Rikke Slot Kristensen and Jutta Prip

The purpose of this article is to address the role of the teachers when teaching the technology subject at the Danish higher examination programme (htx). It is also the intention to address how that role is expressed in practice where use of Problem-based learning (PBL) or some PBL principles is acknowledged as a strong teaching method. Further, it is our intention to discuss the teacher role in relation to readiness of the students evolving from first to third year in the programme. This will be seen in relation to; the development of the students PBL understanding, the cognitive readiness of the students and classroom dynamics. Researching the role of the teachers in the technology subject at htx we observed in two different classes, in two different schools during a project period and discussed our findings with the teachers. In relation to the role of the teachers, we identified a variety of tasks the teachers have to deal with on a daily basis when teaching this subject. It places the teachers in a role where a very hybrid skill set is required which is a combination of technical and non-technical skills. Further, we have also found that the teacher’s role and the teacher’s tasks change as the students develop their skill set during the first year until the end of the third year from a more teacher directed role to a more student-centred facilitator role.   

PRESENTATION NO 2:

Encouraging faculty towards the curriculum transformation of engineering programs by Liliana Fernández-Samacá, Lorena Maria Alarcón Aranguren, Claudia Isabel Rojas and Alejandra María González Correal  

This work shows an experience stressed on the motivation of Faculty to design student-centred approaches for Engineering Education. This article describes a teacher-training program to encourage the change, by using active learning experiences that, in an exemplarity way, promote a shift in attitude among teachers strengthening two skills: collaborative work and communication, essential skills for PBL. The program considers four moment, namely: i) Interpretation, ii) Disruption, iii) Communication, and iv) Transformation. These moments take as scenario restyling traditional classrooms, which are renovated as Active Learning Classrooms (ALC). The first moment ‘Interpretation’ uses Design Thinking tools for rethinking the teacher practice and analysing roles of participants on learning-teaching experiences; there, the main objective is to empathize. In the second moment, ‘Disruption,’ participants develop activities related to novel topics for their performance field; in this stage, workshops offer a disruptive environment fostering divergent thinking. The third moment, ‘Communication,’ uses playful activities that allow teachers to comprehend the importance of this skill for collective work. Finally, the moment called 'Transformation,' introduces the PBL by using workshops and Hands-On activities. In these activities, Faculty designs a PBL intervention for a semester or proposes a new educational framework for an engineering program. About 80 teachers from different programs have participated in the program training with successful results; many student-centred experiences are emerging, where the new ALC play a role of a catalyst for the teaching transformation.

Presentation no. 3:

Assessment methods in split-level (PBL)2 for Building Information Modelling by Karsten Menzel and Michal Otreba

This paper presents the results of a split-level (PBL)²-scenario implemented at University College Cork, Ireland. Participants came from a four year Honours Bachelor Degree Programme in Civil Engineering and a 90 credit, one year MEngSc. Degree Programme in Information Technology in Architecture, Engineering and Construction. The aim of the split-level (PBL)²-scenario was to improve the education in Building Information Modelling, with a special emphasis on networked working methods. The challenge for BIMcourses is always to expose students to all facets of BIM, i.e. Product Modelling, Process Modelling, Communication amongst interdisciplinary teams, version management and quality control. Recently, the legislator in the U.K. came up with seven new distinct role models for BIM-projects, whereas three of these role models are expected to work on project level and four roles are expected to work on task team level. Different qualifications are required to deliver the activities in excellent quality and to execute the authorities of these roles on an informed basis in a responsible manner. Educators, especially third level institutions, have limited opportunities to expose students to real world scenarios, covering all aspects of a BIM-project. The authors argue, that through the presented split-level arrangement the educational needs in BIM can be covered to the broadest extend possible with a much higher impact than reported in other teaching and learning scenarios. The authors also present a holistic set of integrated learning outcomes, reflecting the above challenges. Finally, each presented learning outcome is underpinned with multiple performance indicators, allowing academic staff to implement a detailed, fair evaluation of students’ achievements in PBL-scenarios in a holistic and integrated approach.

PBL Implementation – Advantages and Disadvantages 

Moderated by: Preethi Baligar (KLE Technological University, India)   

Summary:

PBL has been gaining popularity all over the world, where it is being implemented in different formats, disciplines and purposes. Having this in mind, this session addresses the advantages and disadvantages when implementing PBL. The three papers here presented report on how PBL supports the fulfilment of different educational purposes, namely students’ empowerment, engineering attractiveness and women recruitment, and interdisciplinarity. How these purposes led to a PBL implementation? What are the main challenges and advantages in using PBL to address aforementioned topics? How can PBL be used to address other challenging engineering topics, such as dropouts, digitalization, etc.?

Presentation no. 1:

Empowering English-Majored Students at DUY TAN University through Project Based Learning to Upgrade their Graduation Theses by Giang Tran Thi Minh

The paper aims at upgrading the quality of English-majored students’ graduation theses by empowering English-majored students through project-based learning. The focus group interviews of 30 lecturers of English at Faculty of English, Duy Tan University and the survey of 72 fourth-year English-majored students were conducted to find out advantages and disadvantages that lecturers and students encountered in using PBL approach in teaching and learning. In addition, the paper showed the impact of PBL approach on the quality of students’ graduation theses and suggested possible solutions to obstacles encountered by lecturers and students in employing PBL approach to improve the quality of students’ graduation theses. Besides, in this paper a mixed-method study was conducted with both qualitative and quantitative analysis on lecturers and students to find out the advantages and disadvantages when implementing PBL. The results show that students were highly motivated by implementing PBL in teaching and learning (87.5% students’ interest, and 62.5% high helpfulness of PBL to students’ graduation theses). It is hoped that the paper will help students realize the essence of PBL at universities in Viet Nam so that they can improve their graduation theses better and better through PBL approach.    

Presentation no. 2:

Opportunity Gap and Women in the Energy Infrastructure Workforce by Jonathan Montoya, Forest Peterson and Sade Bonilla 

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) predicts above-average employment growth for jobs in the construction industry. And despite the majority of entry-level jobs in construction requiring a high school diploma or less, median annual wages in the industry are over 8,000 dollars higher than other industries (Torpey 2018). Despite this growth and relatively high wages, women are severely underrepresented: just 3.5 percent of workers in the construction occupations are women while women make up 47 percent of the labor force. Career and Technical Education (CTE) in high school can provide an avenue for increasing the participation of young women. Through a Researcher Practitioner Partnership (RPP), a team of teachers, trades educators, and administrators from high schools, community colleges, and apprenticeship centers sought to increase access through a virtual design and construction STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) career pathway program. The team explored whether a Project-based Learning (PBL) approach in Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) is a feasible method for woman-focused CTE. We found evidence that targeted recruiting through a feminist positive pathway to create a critical mass of female participants in conjunction with PBL can offer an opportunity for women to enter a traditionally male-dominated field. Furthermore, our study calls for continued theory development into and provides evidence that higher concentrations of women have the potential to increase the industry’s focus on safety, environmental protection, and labor standards. We argue that the lack of female representation is due to an opportunity gap for young women to learn about and join high-skill high-wage occupations. 

Presentation no. 3:

An interdisciplinary Biotechnology Project – Experiences with a change to PBL by Bettina Knappe, Gesine Cornelissen, Dagmar Rokita, Christoph Maas and Gerwald Lichtenberg

Studying at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW Hamburg) focusses on the development of theoretical and practical engineering competences on a scientific level. Since its foundation fifty years ago, didactic concepts have mostly followed standard teaching formats: lectures and lectures combined with various lab exercises in small groups. For Bachelor engineering programmes like biotechnology, 90 % of the first semester contains modules like mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, and informatics. They introduce essential basic concepts, but students often fail to recognise the relevance and connectivity of these topics for their intrinsic field of interest, which are biotechnological processes. To tackle these problems, a seminar with a weekly time slot combined with a one-day biotechnology lab session was introduced ten years ago as a voluntary module in the first semester. After five years, we changed the didactic concept to Project-based learning (PBL). Today, we can look back over five years of experience with both approaches: the old and the new. This paper explains the change and gives a description of the change process and reflects on the pros and cons of these changes. It summarises the experiences from the students’ as well as from the staffs’ perspective. It discusses special problems introducing an alternative learning concept within a university with other teaching traditions and different teaching methods that run in parallel modules. We chart the iteration of improvements of this project as a nucleus for curricular development of the first year of engineering programmes and give an outlook for further developments of the interdisciplinary project itself and its possible integration into future curricula.

Curriculum Design: PBL curriculum and competencies 

Moderated by: Jonte Bernhard, Linköping University, Sweden 

Summary:

Generic competences such as teamwork, communication and system thinking have gained increasing attention in engineering education, and problem-based learning (PBL) has been highlighted as effective in fostering such competences. Problem-based and project organized learning is increasingly gaining traction as a pedagogical model suitable for supporting the development of transversal competencies. However, social challenges and professional trends are call for “evolution” of PBL models and practice. It calls for the development of current PBL courses and curriculum with aim to embrace the aforementioned competencies. This session will take point of departure in three papers introducing different ways of implementing variation and progression into existing PBL settings. This session will discuss possible ways of developing current known PBL settings, supporting and developing students’ skills and competences further in relation to future complex problem solving.

Presentation no. 1:

Designing Progressive Intended Learning Outcomes for PBL: A Workshop Format for Curriculum Redesign by Jette Egelund Holgaard, Anette Kolmos and Maiken Winther   

Generic competences such as teamwork, communication and system thinking have gained increasing attention in engineering education, and problem-based learning (PBL) models have been highlighted as effective in fostering such competences. Aalborg University (AAU), Denmark, has had a systemic approach to PBL since its foundation in 1974, and in 2018 a process was initiated to make the progression of PBL competences more explicit in the curricula. Consequently, all study programmes had to redesign their curriculum and integrate progressive intended learning outcomes (PILOs) for PBL. In the engineering and science faculties, a project was initiated with the purpose of supporting all study programmes in the process of designing such learning outcomes. The outcome was a guide for staff to develop PILOs for PBL, presenting a participatory process design and a complementary workshop format. This paper outlines the process for educational design, the workshop format, and reflections on the project carried out at AAU as a best practice example of integrating PBL throughout the curricula in an inclusive and participatory way. 

Presentation no. 2:

Promotion of competencies through case studies in logistics studies by Martin Wölker, Janina Müller and Ulla Tschötschel  

With the aim of promoting competencies for professional practice, the "Logistics - Diagnostics and Design" (LDD) study programme at the University of Applied Sciences in Kaiserslautern is using problem-based learning methods which include teaching with case studies. Case studies offer the opportunity to put students in a work place environment. With our approach of casebased teaching, the state of a company which is to be analysed is described in more detail by teams of students. With the help of analysis methods from consulting, they deduce the underlying problems of the case and then develop solution concepts. The results of the process are presented by the teams to the lecturer - the clients and examiners - and the fellow students. The module is characterised by the fact that the students have to adjust to different clients who have different focuses and are experts in different areas of logistics. Despite the practice-oriented teaching, the students have difficulties in transferring their approach to other case studies or projects. In order to support the students in this transfer, the procedure model "Model B" was developed at the University of Applied Science Kaiserslautern for the efficient processing of case studies. The model is characterised by eight steps and was set up on the basis of procedures from PBL didactics and logistics. The students can work in a structured procedure up to the results and this approach is transferable to other projects. Competencies are enhanced, including the ability to solve problems through a structured approach. The “Model B“ empowers the students to adopt a disciplined attitude and efficient performance. The casebased teaching of the university promotes professional self-understanding and competencies. 

Presentation no. 3: 

Classification and framing in PBL: a case study by Anders Melbye Boelt, Nanna Svarre Kristensen and Nicolaj Riise Clausen

Problem-based and project organized learning is increasingly gaining traction as a pedagogical model suitable for supporting transversal competencies. Characterized by starting the learning process in authentic and exemplary problems, students at Aalborg University (AAU) engage in lengthy project-organized PBL often spanning an entire semester. The curriculum of each semester is organized in thematic blocks consisting of a large project supported by smaller individual disciplinary subject courses. The integration of the disciplinary subjects in the project is, is however, debatable. Answers from a survey distributed to 5th semester Medialogy students show that students found it challenging to integrate course content into their projects in the previous semester. Some students even found the course content irrelevant to their projects. In other words, a dissonance exists in the perceived relation between content presented in courses and content applied in projects. The situation has implored teachers to rethink the curriculum and pedagogy on the 4th semester of Medialogy.

Applying Bernstein's concepts of classification and framing as an interpretive framework to interviews with teachers and semester descriptions, we will analyze the classification and framing at this re-thought 4th semester. Classification conceptualizes the insulation between subjects and contents and framing the structuring of pedagogic communication such as pacing and sequencing. Specifically, we investigate how classification is described in the formal curriculum and in interviews with teachers. Further, we will briefly analyze how teachers reflect on the framing of the courses and projects. Bernstein's concepts of classification and framing appear to be useful when addressing the assimilation and levels of control of subjects and projects in project-organized problem-based learning.

PBL Implementation – Experiences and Workflows: Implantation of PBL   

Moderated by: Erik de Graaff, Aalborg University, Denmark

Summary:

Workflow is defined as “the way that a particular type of work is organized, or the order of the stages in a particular work process” (retrieved from Cambridge online dictionary). In this context, we refer to workflows as how PBL is organized, the order of its implementation and practice, as well as its learning process and the development of competences. This session brings together three case examples on how PBL is implemented in three organizations with the aim to develop competences such as problem design, teamwork skills, and as mean to increase students’ motivation. Examples of aspects to discuss and reflect further include how the curriculum is organized, what main activities students’ engage to develop the aforementioned competences, or what to consider when engaging in a curriculum change process.

Presentation no 1:

Developing Teamwork skills in a multidisciplinary project-oriented course by  Carola Hernández and Carola Gómez   

Literature shows that project-oriented courses that take on the characteristics of Project-Oriented Problem Based Learning allow students to develop essential skills in the professional life of 21st-century engineers such as teamwork. Since 2018, the Faculty of Engineering of the Universidad de Los Andes has implemented the Multidisciplinary Engineering Design Project (MEDP) course. In the course, students from eight engineering programs create teams of four to five students that are advised by two or three professors from different engineering fields. These teams are invited to select a real context where they will identify problems in order to use their knowledge and engineering skills to propose relevant, viable, multidisciplinary, and sustainable solutions. The first versions of the course showed that the students' previous experiences in teams (multidisciplinary or disciplinary groups) were not favorable in most of the cases. To prevent this fact inevitably leads to blockage of the projects throughout the MEDP course, the teachers design and implemented a pedagogical strategy to develop teamwork skills. Thus, this study explores what are the achievements of implementing the proposed strategy for the course. Using a qualitative approach, information was collected on the course developed in fall 2019 through focus groups, students' written reports, and teamwork assessment rubrics, and they were analyzed by triangulating sources. The analysis shows how the strategy implemented did generate face-to-face communication, emotional management of the team, and anticipation of the outbreak of conflicts in the way of explicit conversations about the discomforts and tensions inside the team, which can hinder and delay the development of the project.

Presentation no. 2:

Crafting design problems for Project-based learning in first-year undergraduate engineering education by Preethi Baligar, Sanjeev Kavale, Kaushik Mallibhat and Gopalkrishna Joshi 

Engineering Education has to prepare students for solving workplace problems. Practicing engineers commonly solve design problem, troubleshooting problems, system-analysis problems and decision-making problems which are ill-structured. Project-based learning and Problem-based learning pedagogies are adopted in engineering education to develop competencies required in solving such problems. Success of these pedagogies depends on how well the problems are crafted. Though literature describes how to craft problems for problem-based learning pedagogy crafting design problems for Project-based learning in a design course needs exploration. The proposed work addresses this research gap using an existing framework of problem difficulty to analyse a set of chosen design problems.  These problems are created for a first-year, undergraduate engineering course titled “Engineering Exploration” that uses Project-based learning pedagogy. Students design a Mechatronic prototype following engineering design process. As per the framework, problem difficulty has two dimensions: complexity and structuredness. Complexity refers to the breadth of knowledge, the difficulty level of the concepts, relational complexity, and intricacy of problem-solutions steps. Structuredness arises from intransparency, interdisciplinarity, heterogeneity of interpretations, dynamicity, and legitimacy of competing alternatives.  Results show that these characteristics of problem-difficulty are also applicable for crafting interdisciplinary design problems. The present study also unravels the elements that can be used to identify a-priori the level of complexity and ill-structuredness in design problems. These elements can be used to craft design problems with a known level of problem difficulty which is also attainable by students.    

PRESENTATION NO. 3:

Development of Motivation in a Problem-Based Psychology Bachelor’s Program by ​Lisette Wijnia and Gera Noordzij    

Problem-based learning (PBL) aims to promote students’ intrinsic motivation to learn, but there is little empirical evidence for this claim. In this study, we investigated the development of students’ motivation in a three-year PBL curriculum. Different types of motivation were measured at the start of the first year and the end of the first, second, and third year. We examined three indicators of stability and change: correlations, mean-level change, and individual-level change. Correlations showed relatively strong stability across time points. Overall, the mean-level change results indicated that some high-quality motivation types such as intrinsic and identified motivation remained relatively stable while studying in a PBL curriculum. Specifically, results showed that motivation to learn new things (i.e., intrinsic motivation to know) or because reading and the discussions are stimulating (i.e., intrinsic motivation to experience stimulation) declined during the first year, but remained relatively stable afterward. Students’ intrinsic motivation toward accomplishments (i.e., pleasure resulting from accomplishing learning goals) and identified motivation (i.e., studying because it is personally meaningful), remained stable throughout the three years. External motivation (i.e., studying to get a high paying job later) did not change through the years. However, introjected motivation (studying out of guilt or shame) and a motivation declined after the first year. Finally, individual level-change was examined with the reliable change index. A pattern of change was found that was different from what we would expect if the change was random. At each consecutive time point, a significant portion of students reported either an increase or a decrease in motivation. These individual increases or decreases in motivation can cancel each other out in the mean-level change analyses. Therefore, in future research, we need to examine why some students become more motivated, whereas others become less motivated while studying in a PBL curriculum.