According to Teaching for Meaningful Learning, the dominant paradigm of teacher instruction and teacher reliance on textbooks as a primary source of knowledge acquisition through discussion and reading is showing signs of wear. Thankfully, this is being accomplished due to the increase in inquiry- based learning strategies that are being implemented across the United States. One approach to inquiry- based instruction is with problem- based learning.
Meaningful learning occurs with problem- based learning (PBL) as students complete and present complex, real world challenges that are central to the curriculum of their courses, are organized around questions that focus on the central principles of the content, are constructed to allow students to perform inquiry, are student managed, and are authentic, real world scenarios. (Barron & Darling- Hammond)
One benefit of PBL activities is that students gain in factual learning that is better or just as good as traditional teaching practices. This is proven to be true in a study explained in Teaching for Meaningful Learning. In this particular study performed by Shepherd, significantly higher test scores were achieved by fourth and fifth grade students who dedicated nine weeks of their school time toward defining and finding solutions related to housing shortages of several countries. Not only did the students engaged in this PBL gain confidence in their learning but they also proved to increase their critical- thinking skills.
Problem- based learning approaches have many more advantages for students. Some of which are explained in Teaching for Meaningful Learning in the following:
"Other short-term, comparative studies of traditional vs. project-based approaches have demonstrated several benefits from projects, such as an increase in the ability to define problems (Gallagher, Stepien, & Rosenthal, 1992), growth in their ability to support their reasoning with clear arguments (Stepien, Gallagher, & Workman, 1993), and enhanced ability to plan a project after working on an analogous problem-based challenge (Moore, Sherwood, Bateman, Bransford, & Goldman, 1996)."
In addition to project- based learning approaches, an approach to teaching that also is diminishing poor, past teaching practices is termed Learning by Design. This instruction method allows students to deeply engage with and apply their knowledge in order to create an artifact. One study, which is also explained in Teaching for Meaningful Learning, demonstrates the importance of implementing a design project. A group of sixth grade students were found to systematically understand the respiratory system and understand the functions and structure of it better than students who engaged in respiratory system activities that were not approaches that supported learning by design (Hmelo, Holton, and Kolodner, 2000).
I find satisfaction in the fact that both of these instruction strategies are applicable in science as well as other content areas. It is hard to pick a preference because all of the instruction strategies associated with inquiry- based practices are beneficial for science students. The major difference is that there are different amounts of inquiry associated with each instruction method, which makes the Learning by Design approach a goal to carry out in my classroom as I believe it requires the most prior knowledge and effort from the students. The effort they put into their projects will be rewarded with an educational outcome equal to the amount of effort they put into the project.
Because the students are applying their knowledge and the content covered in class to real world scenarios, I believe that the most beneficial factor with inquiry- based instruction is that students will find meaningful connections of the school material with their current and future lives.
References
Barron, B., & Darling- Hammond, L. teaching for meaningful learning a review of research on inquiry-based and cooperative learning. Edutopia. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/pdfs/edutopia-teaching-for-meaningful-learning.pdf
Gallagher, S. A., Stepien, W. J., & Rosenthal, H. (1992). The effects of problembased learning on problem solving. Gifted
Child Quarterly, 36, 195–200.
Hmelo, C. E., Holton, D. L., & Kolodner, J. L. (2000). Designing to learn about complex systems. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 9(3), 247–298.
Moore, A., Sherwood, R., Bateman, H., Bransford, J., & Goldman, S. (1996, April).Using problem-based learning to prepare for project-based learning. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New York.
Stepien, W. J., Gallagher, S. A., & Workman, D. (1993). Problem-based learning for traditional and interdisciplinary classrooms. Journal for the Education of the Gifted Child, 16, 338–357
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