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What makes a good PBL problem?

Writing a PBL problem is quite different from writing a problem for a work sheet or assignment. However, the task is easier if one bears in mind the essential characteristics of a good PBL problem. [Ref 5]

Engaging An effective problem must engage the students if it is to encourage and promote a deep level of thinking and understanding. To this end the problems may contain a hook, trigger and scenario. The hook is probably the first thing the student will read, and is designed to engage the students interest. The scenario defines the point of view the students will adopt, and the trigger ensure students keep to the required learning objectives. All problems should have a real world setting.

Multi-Stage The problem will often be multi-stage and require students to make decisions using scientific reasoning and enquiry. Students should be able to justify their decisions and conclusions. If the problem is multi-staged, it will encourage students to think more deeply and to investigate valid assumptions about the physical world.

Complex It is often said that a PBL problem should be ‘complex’. In physics, this can be misleading if complexity is misunderstood. We spend considerable effort constructing problems that are simple enough to illustrate fundamental principles clearly. Complexity means at least two things: that students learn to make these simplifications themselves in order to learn to construct tractable models of the real world, and that these problems are contextualised so that obtaining the ‘right answers’ has ‘real-world’ consequences.

Open Ended If a problem has a closed solution, students tend to focus on obtaining that solution in order to gain full marks. Open-endedness allows the problem to be explored from a variety of different viewpoints, so that the significance of the solution and the process of reaching it become equally important.

Covers Content Content objectives from the course must be incorporated into the problems and often form the starting point for problem writing. The use of triggers throughout the problem text will keep students close to the desired learning objectives. Overall, problems must challenge the students’ ability in order to develop higher- order thinking skills. Bloom’s cognitive taxonomy [Ref 6] may be a useful guide to the cognitive levels activated by various student activities.

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This content is based on the Project LeAP Practice Guide to Problem-Based Learning in Physics and Astronomy, eds D J Raine and S L Symons, HEA Subject Centre for Physical Science, 2005, available here