When is a problem not a problem?

“When ignorance is bliss”: a case study

Jane Essex and

Katherine Haxton

What IS in those jars? Should we get rid of all the contents?

No, we don’t know

either....

Over to you!

What do school-aged participants think?

“Thanks for a fantastic 3 days! I’ve really enjoyed it!”

“Thank you for giving me the opportunity to work with you and Katherine on the project this week. It was great fun and I learned a lot of new skills.”

“It made it (Chemistry) more interesting. At the start of the week I was worried that something won’t (sic) go right, but as the week progressed I found out things that I wasn’t expecting which was great. If something doesn’t go as expected you have to try something different until you get a result then you get so much more information. I loved it.”

“they all thoroughly enjoyed it and found themselves getting really into the idea of researching then carrying out the experiments (which is fab – and actually quite interesting as this process is something there is absolutely no time for in schools – but it forms the basis of research!). They were very impressed with the labs and the freedom to choose their own analytical journey. I think the fact that the samples tended to be “what the label implied they were” helped too .”

Our task had a number of key PBL characteristics:

Stimulated by a poorly defined problem, where epistemological boundaries are not evident

Requires an authentic problem, so is often context-rich

Is often found to be highly motivating

Is open-ended, so engaging for able students

Encourages group work and constructivist approaches

Has several possible ‘right’ solutions so is not the same as problem-solving

Is not algorithmic, so is not the same as a classic investigation; this may be popular with less academic students who fear getting it wrong

Rewards/ engenders creativity

Makes students into genuine researchers

May change the power relationships between teachers and students, making both co-enquirers

BUTThe problem was selected by staff

Open-endedness is rapidly lost through staff familiarity with the problem

Uncertain ‘supply’ of authentic problems

Tension between risk management and lack of certainty about the test materials

A suggested typology of problems

What determines what sort of problem we use:

Time?

Curriculum pressures?

Assessment pressures?

Fear of loss of status?

Management problems?

Resourcing problems?

How did we use our experiences?

After investing time in trialling the approach also led to:

Increased confidence about recognising real problems

Increased confidence about working in an exploratory, non-closed manner: the undergraduate roll out

BibliographyEssex, Jane, (2013), “

Behind the scenes at the Victorian pharmacy”, Education in Chemistry, May 2013,pp 26-29

Hmelo-Silver, Cindy E., (2004), Problem-Based Learning: What and How Do Students Learn?, Educational Psychology Review, 16 (3), pp 235-266

Wood, Colin, (2006), The development of creative problem solving in chemistry, Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 7 (2), pp96-113

Gijbels, David; Dochy, Filip; Van den Bossche, Piet; Segers, Mien (2005),Effects of Problem-Based Learning: A Meta-Analysis From The Angle Of Assessment, Review of Educational Research 75 (1), pp27-61