A Preliminary Investigation of the Role of Problem Based Learning (PBL)

Abstract

Problem Based Learning (PBL) is a relatively recent innovation in education that appears to offer benefits that are not obtainable to same extent by more traditional instructor-centred educational methodologies. This article tries to identify key characteristics and benefits of PBL and asks how applicable they are to teaching computing at third level. The article is written as first semester in which PBL was trialed in ITB draws to a close and is written from an active teaching rather than an educationalist research perspective. Learning (PBL) as an educational methodology which is not a instructor-centred as traditional educational methodologies. Education professionals are legitimately asking if PBL is applicable generally to most disciplines, and if so, should it be viewed as an alternative or a complementary methodology. Traditional teaching methodologies for technical disciplines place instructor very much at centre of for student (with formal lectures, supervised laboratory work and tutorials), particularly in early years of study at third level. A common view in education is that drives learning and that the curriculum shows you what teaching staff are doing, assessment tells you what students are doing 1 . Current assessment methodologies at second-level can place more emphasis on knowledge recall rather than actual understanding and this experience can be reinforced at third-level. It may be unrealistic to expect not to be primarily driven by assessment, but better assessment methodologies may map student's more closely to course objectives. The careful specification of course objectives and design of curriculum, and assessment methodologies to support them is a problem to which PBL offers a solution. It is not only solution. This article represents a first step in trying to define what is meant by PBL and if it can be applied to teaching of computing at third level in an Institute of Technology