Looking at PBL

https://www3.imsa.edu/

I have used PBL time and time again from the perspective of the student, but admittedly I have never taken the time to truly consider the amount of work a teacher puts in to developing an enriching, well put together PBL. I never quite understood why teachers choose to use PBLs when at a glance they appear not to cover that much content. Now I'm beginning to see that PBLs have the capability of pushing our students to cover a much wider range of content in their own way! This type of learning does not follow the cookie cutter mold. It is meant to be challenging, thought provoking, hands-on learning that can not be memorized and repeated back. There is hardly ever a cut and dry solution, and that can leave students feeling frustrated at times. 

PBLs can be unorganized at times but thats okay! They're suppose to be! Students are going to be met with a lot of challenges but that's one of the great things about PBL. These challenges lead to a million different solutions. Students have to use their skills of reasoning and decision making to decide which solutions will benefit their intended outcome for the better, and which for the worse. It also promotes team work and shows students the benefits, and the difficulties, of working as a cohesive group. Developing these types of skills are really what every teacher is hoping there students develop by the time they complete their education. These kinds of skills are relevant real-world skills that will help students in the future work force to become contributing members of society. 

The Sakai resources did a nice job of summing PBL up at a glance and IMSA laid it out in a little more detail. the IMSA was well organized, clear, and easy to navigate. This is a great site for teachers who are considering doing a PBL, especially those doing one for the first time with little exposure to PBL in the past. I enjoyed the presentation style format, and the continued message of Real-world problems creating Real-life connections. I realize that there are those out there who know very little about PBL and I feel very fortunate that by the end of my college education I will have had the opportunity to look at PBL from several different angles. 

After viewing the examples and looking more at the websites it is easy to see why some teachers may choose to avoid PBL. The amount of time and effort it takes on behalf of the teachers can be overwhelming. Having the ability to create an enriching PBL that is meaningful, creative, effective, engaging to students is a lot of work. To me however creating a PBLs benefits far outweigh the amount of time and effort that is needed to be put in. If a teacher is really concerned about the amount of time PBL would be a great thing to collaborate on in developing with your teaching team. Teachers in the same grade and content area could help in the development of a PBL. Even those in different content areas could help create a PBL that was cross-curricular. As teachers it isn't really fair of us to ask our students to work and develop a solutions in teams if we can't do so ourselves! Teachers also have the capabilities of using outside resources when developing their own PBL. Ask other teachers about PBLs they may have done in the past, look at books, and even look online to find resources.