Problem Based Learning

Introduction
Like all other areas of progress and development, the academic field has also seen considerable changes in the modes of imparting knowledge and education. Teaching and learning are no longer limited to classroom sessions where one person takes the center stage to deliver knowledge and a group of students remain at the receiving end.
The present day education has expanded its wings to more practical methods of teaching wherein students are allowed to experiment and explore beyond the instructor led knowledge. Problem Based Learning is one such way of teaching students where they use their prior knowledge to solve problems and learn new things in the process.

Problem Based Learning – An Overview
As the name suggests, Problem Based Learning (PBL) refers to a learning process, where the students gain new knowledge through exploring a research problem in a structured and systematic way. This problem can often be a real life situation. PBL focuses on being more ‘student centered’ as compared to the traditional modes of teaching and allows the students to partially determine the learning objectives of the course or topic that they are about to learn. Thus, the learning occurs through the skills and techniques that the students obtain to find solutions for the research problem rather than listening to the lectures of the professor and learn about the content.

The teacher or the instructor, in PBL, plays the role of a facilitator or guide to the students rather than providing instructions or information on the given topic. PBL can be adopted to teach various disciplines for a single unit of the course or an entire curriculum of an undergraduate or post graduate degree.

‘Trigger’ in Problem Based Learning
The process of PBL begins with a Trigger which hints/indicates to a problem or situation. The students then start their research and analysis to find solutions to this problem. It is critical that the Trigger is appropriately focused so that it leads to a definite learning outcome which is related to the course content. A Trigger can be anything from newspaper articles, quotations, movie/video clips, interview citations, image etc. However, the instructor may also choose not to use the Trigger and instead directly provide a specific situation to the students.

Distinctive Features of PBL

Learning through Problem Solving:
PBL introduces the student to the topic or course content through the process of problem solving as opposed to the traditional method where the student is introduced to the content first and is then supposed to apply it for problem solving. This kind of approach has been adopted to support researches, saying that learning is enhanced when it is introduced through an experience in an appropriate context.

Presenting Complex/Real-Life Situations:
The problems used for PBL are often real-life situations where the students need to analyze them critically through reference/case studies and research work. These problems may not have simple or straight forward solutions; neither they might have one possible solution and can be solved through different strategies and approaches. Finding these strategies would require a thinking of higher order which would involve evaluation, analysis and synthesis to create new knowledge and learning.

Using Prior Learning:
PBL allows students to use their prior learning for analyzing and finding solution for the problem placed before them. By recalling what they have already learnt, the students can make assumptions and develop strategies for problem solving. According to researches a conflict between new information and previous learning may enhance the learning process.

Collaborative Approach:
While solving a problem, it is not mandatory for the students to get the correct answer as there may not be one concrete answer or solution to the problem. Instead, the focus lies on the process of finding the solution by working in a group and exploring various possibilities through analytical research work.

Role of the Instructor:
In PBL the instructor steps back from his/her traditional role of feeding information about the new content to the students. Instead, he/she becomes a facilitator or guide in the process of finding solutions to the research problem. However, that does not mean that the instructor has any less importance as compared to his/her conventional role. It requires a lot of preparation to guide the students properly by providing information resources, reading/reference list, suggesting research and analysis strategies etc. The instructor might also need to make himself/herself available in person or through email/telephone whenever the students require him/her during the research period. However, it is not mandatory for the instructor to be with the students always.

Advantages of Problem Based Learning

• Being more student centric, PBL is more likely to motivate and excite the students to learn, wherein they need to play an active role in analyzing things for a given assignment.
• By presenting the students with real-life situations, PBL enhances the problem solving skills of the students as opposed to providing only theoretical knowledge. Learning, therefore, goes beyond bookish knowledge and helps the students face and see through practical problems.
• Allowing the students to use prior knowledge to solve a new problem, PBL ensures deeper understanding. According to researches, learning is enhanced when new information is presented through a meaningful context and comes in conflict with the existing knowledge.
• PBL demands a collaborative approach towards problem solving, thus, creating an environment in which the students learn to see various approaches to solve one problem through group interactions. This makes the team responsible for each other and not just for one’s own self.
• Redefining the role of the tutor/instructor, PBL demands a unique relation between the students and the teacher. This, in turn, allows the students to partially determine their course of action with the help of the tutor, making learning more interesting, engaging and activity based.

Disadvantages of Problem Based Learning

• While getting introduced to a new topic or course content, the students might not be in the best position to determine what is important for them and what is not. It might be too much to expect from them to decide their course of action, especially for subjects in which they do not have any prior exposure.
• Students are habituated to classroom sessions with the instructors taking the center stage and transferring knowledge through lectures and notes. All of a sudden, if they are told to analyze a given topic and determine their learning objectives all by themselves, they might get confused or lost.
• Tutors/Instructors are expected to change their conventional modes of classroom teaching and prepare himself/herself to become a guide/facilitator of the students by providing them research and analysis guidance. Some teachers might not find this change of role very comfortable.
• As PBL deals with researching and solving problems, it is essential to generate a proper problem/situation/question, without which the proper learning objectives cannot be determined. If an appropriate problem is not raised it is likely that the students would go out of track and completely miss the actual objective behind the entire course.
• Although PBL tends to hone the analytical skills of the students through presenting them with real-life situations, it is also found that often, they do not have sound theoretical knowledge on the subject matter.