It attracts and sustains students' interest withits need for resolution while exposing multiple perspectives. Students are engaged problem solvers, identifying the root problem and the conditions needed for a good solution, pursuing meaning and understanding, and becoming self directed learners. Teachers are problem solving colleagues who model interest and enthusiasm for learning and are also cognitive coaches who nurture an environment that supports open inquiry. The instructional template for a problem based learning unit begins by preparing the learners with team building, critical thinking, and creativity exercises. Never teach the content of the problem beforehand.
Students learn the content and skills in the course of solving the problem.
After some preparation, students are now ready to meet the problem and develop a personal stake in searching for solutions. Problems may be authentically met with letters, documents or enlisting someone who shares a problematic concern and illicits student assistance. The next step involves identifying what is known about the problem, what needs to be known, and discussing ideas or hunches about possible solutions. Then the problem statement is defined to provide a focus for gathering and sharing information. Possible solutions are then generated and decisions are made to determine the best fit for these solutions.