Elements of PBL Curriculum

Kolmos et al. (2009) suggested that the shift towards a PBL approach does not only involve change in teaching methods, but also in the combination of learning methodologies, ways of knowledge construction and the scientific approach to understanding. The authors further identified seven elements in a curriculum that had to be aligned in a PBL design development, as shown in Figure 4.

63 Figure 4: Elements of PBL alignment in the curriculum (Kolmos et al., 2009)

The elements represent most (if not all) of the curriculum elements aligned with the DBR views, which emphasises multiple consideration in design activity. Despite being developed for project-oriented PBL at programme level, the alignments and their components still correspond to the PBL at course level. The objective, knowledge and learning outcomes of the course should reflect the PBL principles that emphasise on acquiring knowledge and competencies. For type of problems, projects and lectures, the problems should be authentic, open-ended, inquiry-based, ill-structured and engaging but at the same time, effectively targeting the intended learning outcomes.

de Graaff and Kolmos (2003) provided a continuum of problem definition between well-defined problems at one end and open, ill-defined problems at the other end. Since this research involves development of the PBL design for a semester-long implementation, a well-defined problem could be introduced at the early semester to minimize tensions among students. Towards the end of the semester, more ill-structured problems could be introduced since the students would be more capable and familiar with the new approach. A well-defined PBL problem might have more hints and cues, and they are more straight-forward and less complex compared to the ill-structured one. It

PBL Alignment Academic

staff &

facilitation

Students´

learning

Progression size &

duration

Type of problems, projects &

lectures Objective

&

Knowledge Space &

organizatio n

Assessment

&

evaluation

64

is equally pertinent to determine the progression, size and duration in order to estimate how much time is devoted for PBL activities, which largely depends on the complexity of the problems. From the initial framework, students may need more time at the early stage because PBL is a different approach of learning.

Supporting students´ learning is highly important for a successful innovative learning approach, like the PBL. Because the students were minimally exposed to student-centred learning, preparing them to support their learning is vital. Among the things considered were the way the students form the group, their cognitive level, their group rapport, the scaffolding plan to guide them in using new range of skills, the tutorial process and facilitation. Hence, the assessment and evaluation should not only be aligned with the learning outcomes, but also be compatible with the PBL process and how it can support student learning.

Academic staff and facilitation is not relevant for this research since the PBL design was planned for a course-level implementations and the academic staff (the researcher and the local PBL practitioner) were all well-trained in PBL. However, for a future larger scale PBL implementation, staff training and facilitation will be essential in order for the academic staff to deal with different issues in PBL like project supervision, facilitation, group conflict and project management.

Space and organisation, on the other hand, is a paramount issue when it comes to implementing PBL in Malaysia. Hierarchical organization of university administration demands support for any change in teaching and learning to take place. Likewise, the researcher obtained continuous support from the university administrator. The learning space to support a PBL environment was still negotiable. Having clearly dictated the possibilities to align different PBL elements with the local settings, the local setting before PBL implementation was compared with the improvement plan for the PBL design implementations, according to the aforementioned elements of alignments as depicted in Table 19.

65 Table 19: PBL alignments of elements in the curriculum

PBL elements for alignment by Kolmos et al., (2009)

The course

Prior to PBL implementation Improvement plan for PBL design implementation

Presentation of the PBL problems to initiate the learning and lectures are only delivered when needed or upon request.

Progression, size and duration

Student is not concern with their learning progression, hence they are not aware of what should be improve in the next class

Emphasize student progression

throughout the semester by encouraging reflection on their learning. Student will aware of their strength and weakness and hence well-informed to improve in the next discussion/tutorials

Big tutorial or lecture rooms, and the space is not manipulated to encourage student interaction

Also in a considerably big tutorial room, but with movable chairs and a table attached to it. Therefore, the space and the current facilities are used to create PBL learning environment

Academic staff and facilitations

No training to academic staff The local practitioner is considered as PBL expert by practice, while the researcher are formally trained with the PBL research

66

As shown in Table 19, it is apparent that the course prior to PBL implementation was carried out in conventional ways of teaching and learning. Therefore, to achieve change, all of the elements in the curriculum must be included and aligned.

3.4.3 Analysis of the course