Problem Based Learning- Journal

1. The article had a lot of interesting points about problem based learning (PBL). It talked about how the constructivist theory relates to PBL's in the classroom. The constructivist theory is where students use prior knowledge to make connections to the new information that they are learning. It goes on to say that in order for students to be successful in solving PBL problems they have to be in a comfortable environment where they are not afraid to express their ideas. They have to relate what they are learning to the experiences in their lives and the things that they have already learned. I thought that this article was very interesting because it talked about how the teacher organized the groups that she put the students in. Next it talked about the order that the teacher went in presenting the PBL to her students. The article also gave questions that students should be trying to answer and different ideas that help the students answer the questions. All student's should be an active member of the group and be sharing their ideas with their group members.

2. I think that there were a lot of strengths to this article because it gave examples for each step that the teacher did for PBL. There was also a part of the article that had student comments and the students responded that they really liked the PBL. I also think that it was interesting that they incorporated the constructivist theory into this type of learning. The part of the article about splitting the students into groups based on their leadership abilities and creative abilities was new to me because no other article I read talked about how teachers actually put their students into groups. The article could have given more information on what the teachers did to prepare for creating a PBL problem. The author makes it sound like it was given to them it did not explain the thought process of the teachers when creating a problem. Also the article could have gone in to more detail about the role of the teacher during the PBL process.

3. Siefert, E.H. & Simmons, D. (1997). Learning centered schools using a problem-based approach. National Association of Secondary School Principals. 81, 90-97.