Problem-Based Learning as a Practice of Freedom

Abstract

This interactive session will outline a view of problem-based learning (PBL) that focuses on PBL not only as a practical method but also as an ethical stance: that is, not merely as a chance to move from acquiring knowledge to applying it, but even more as a means of helping students experience what knowledge is good for and try out ways that people with the particular kinds of knowledge at issue think, speak, and act. The two PBL techniques the presenters will describe and demonstrateââ¬âthe post-class problem paper and the in-class 2-minute paperââ¬âdraw on the scholarship and practical suggestions in Ken Bainââ¬â¢s What the Best College Teachers Do (Harvard UP, 2004) and in Richard J. Lightââ¬â¢s Making the Most of College: Students Speak Their Minds (Harvard UP, 2004). The session will also integrate the presentersââ¬â¢ model of democratic dialogue in the classroom, an approach to classroom interaction that complements PBL as an ethical stance and that links PBL to the ideal of ââ¬Åeducation as a practice of freedomââ¬Â (bell hooks). Topics will include ways to:
ââ¬Â¢ Implement two useful PBL methods
ââ¬Â¢ Create a framework for critical thinking and civil discourse that supports the highly
interactive nature of PBL
ââ¬Â¢ Build on successes and avoid pitfalls of PBL approaches
ââ¬Â¢ Implement PBL in disciplinary and interdisciplinary environments
ââ¬Â¢ Encourage students to open themselves to new ways of thinking about complex issues
ââ¬Â¢ Address the classroom management and personal issues that arise when students express
controversial opinions, beliefs, or biases within the PBL framework