This session will focus on development of effective strategies for implementing a specific problem-based learning exercise. It will begin with discussion of general issues that guide and inform teaching that incorporates use of PBL, and will provide examples of strategies chosen and implemented by UD faculty using PBL problems in a variety of instructional settings. Participants will come away from the workshop with peer-reviewed teaching notes that can guide their teaching of a problem that they have written and intend to use in an upcoming course. We will debut the website, walk you through registration as a user and prospective author, and orient you to use of existing Clearinghouse problems and submission of your own materials. This session meets in 116 Pearson Hall.
Most PBL courses focus on student understanding rather than rote memorization.
Many of us have gone beyond the usual tests and included group reports, performance assessments, project results, and evaluations of group performance in our courses. In this session, presenters and participants will share their experiences with a variety of assessment techniques that probe students' understanding and abilities to think about a particular content area. It is important to bring closure to a PBL problem so that students and the instructor know whether the objectives were achieved. While a variety of approaches involving individual or group assignments work well, constructing a concept map provides a particularly effective way to wrap up a problem. In addition to scripting a concept map assignment, participants will discuss the various endings they have used and their effectiveness.