Project Organised Problem Based Learning (POPBL) What is a Problem Based Project? Introduction to course Lecturer: Lars Peter Jensen

Today’s Programme Presentation of the POPBL course Mm 1: Introduction to the study form

The POPBL course Objective: Students who complete the module will have: Knowledge about Fundamental learning theories and styles Different approaches to problem based learning including the Aalborg University model Group processes and effective organisation of small groups Acquiring and sharing of knowledge Intercultural competences Scientific documentation and academic honesty

The POPBL course Objective: Students who complete the module will have: Skills to Plan and manage a project within a fixed time schedule Reflect on group collaboration and ways to improve it Reflect on personal contribution to project work and learning Prepare, present and discuss scientific documentation using correct terminology Maintain efficient communication within project groups and to supervisor(s)

The POPBL course Objective: Students who complete the module will have: Competencies to Evaluate personal learning and collaboration with peers and supervisors Apply project organized problem based learning in professional contexts

The POPBL course content The contents include among others issues: Problem based learning Planning/controlling project work Group work Conflict handling Communication Presentation Learning Intercultural competencies Experience with project work in small scale (short time) Duration: 1 ECTS, i.e. 5 mini-modules in the beginning of the semester

Foundation for the POPBL course Theoretical: Theories of learning, organisations and communication Practical: More than 35 years of experience with the ’AAU-model’

Information about the course POPBL at SICT Moodle homepage: http://sict.moodle.aau.dk/ Handouts Literature

Problem Based and Project Based Learning Subject Topics 1 What is a problem-based project?  Course introduction 2 Learning in a new culture and Learning in an intercultural context 3 Project Management  and scientific writing 4 Learning strategies – individual and Team skills 5 Communication and group dynamics

Mm 1: Introduction to the study form Content: PBL and the ’Aalborg-model’ About the project During the lectures there will be small exercises, questions and a large exercise

Survey of background knowledge Who of you participated in the introduction to PBL given by the International office last week? Please raise your hand high of you participated

Survey of background knowledge Use your smartphone, tablet or labtop To go to webpage: m.socrative.com Enter room number: 42765 Answer question: How much experience do you have with project work in groups? A: No experience at all B: A little experience C: Some experience D: Have tryed several times E: A lot of experience (almost expert)

Please think of one of the things that you are good at, write three words in the post-it describing how you learned it well

Backgrounds of PBL in engineering

Teach me… and I will forget ? Student centered learning Teach me… and I will forget ? Tell me and I will forget Show me and I will remember Involve me and I will understand Step back and I will act Chinese proverb

Carl Rogers on teaching at Harvard in 1951 It seems to me that anything that can be taught to another is relatively inconsequential, and has little or no significant influence on behavior. I have come to feel that the only learning which significantly influences behavior is self-discovered, self-appropriated learning.

Diversity of engineering competencies Scientific knowledge Process competencies Project management Communication Teamwork Organization Technical competencies

What kinds of engineers are expected for the future? Globalized context Interdisciplinary knowledge Lifelong learning Effective communication Analytical skills Designing and conducting experiments Application of mathematics and science knowledge Diverse capabilities Intercultural competencies Team work Identity and solve applied science problems Project management Social, environmental, and ethical concerns Characteristics of a communities of practice are cultivated in the historical, social and cultural context. Learning as personal growth and development process – being and becoming through interaction with others in the social context National Academy of Engineering, The Engineer of 2020, 2004 EUR-ACE (Accreditation of European Engineering Programmes and Graduates, http://www.feani.org/EUR_ACE/EUR_ACE_Main_Page.htm - ABET: http://www.abet.org/  

Changing traditional teaching and learning Deeper learning through project work Student’s own interest Key competencies Scope and specific aims Methods and skills

PBL as an example of student-centered teaching and learning model What is problem-based learning? A learning method based on the principle of using problems as a starting point for the acquisition and integration of new knowledge. - H.S. Barrows 1980

Where and how are PBL practiced? Pioneers McMaster 1968 Maastricht 1972 Linköping 1972 Roskilde 1972 Aalborg 1974 Different practices Single courses Problem & project organized Individual project Team work

New study environment at AAU

PBL Learning Principles Social Participant directed Team based learning Content Theory-practice relation Interdisciplinary learning Exemplary learning Meta-learning/ Double loop learning Learning Problem based Project based / organised Contextual learning Activity/experience based learning http://big10x.com/commerce/catalog/images/construction1.gif http://www.in.lcms.org/NewsLetters/EEE/classroom.jpg

PBL Aalborg Model - practice Problems – question – wondering within a frame a project each semester (1. year) each group has a group room group size of 6-8 students first year, 2-3 students the last year each group has at least one supervisor self selected group and projects within themes and disciplines group presentation followed by individual examination Lectures 8:15-10:00 Lecture-related Assignment 10:15-12:00 Supervision -initiated & arranged by students Doing project In groups

What is a supervisor? A person who through facilitating questions encourages your learning process A person who points out the potentials in your work A person who gives loyal and constructive critic of your work A person who at the project exam is one of the examinors

What is a supervisor NOT? Not a teacher who is responsible for your learning process Not a person who tells you what to do Not a person who decides what should be the content of your project Not a member of your project group Not an inexhaustible resource – therefore: Use your supervisor hours carefully

4 types of facilitation Product facilitation Process facilitation Make an index to the report as soon as possible 4 types of facilitation How are things in the group? Product facilitation Process facilitation Well everything seem to be working fine – so ….. http://www.perskycpa.com/Accountant.jpg Can you please go to the blackboard and… Control facilitation Laissez-faire facilitation

“supervisor ” project supervision “Students”

Communication maps during a project Beginning of the project Progressing in the project

The New Aalborg Model Course 5 ECTS Course 5 ECTS Course 5 ECTS 50% courses One semester Project 15 ECTS In groups up to 8 persons Individual assessment Self-selected groups Appointed supervisor(s) 50% project 32 1 ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) = 30 working hours

The Aalborg-model – the study form The key words are: Problems Project Team work Let’s take the last first!

Team work – WHAT? 6 - 8 students co-operating on the same project (at later semesters 1 - 3 students per group) They have to carry out the project and document the results An oral group presentation is the starting point for en individual exam based on the documentation, held at the end of the project period. Individual marks are given.  

Team work – WHY? A survey carried out in 1997 showed that 75 % of companies wanted new employees to have good skills in group work. The individual student in the group learns from the others (Peer Learning) Responsibility towards the group makes the individual student work hard

AAU students on team work ”I think that it becomes easier when you learn technical matters in groups. Normally we use the blackboard to discuss things. … You gain more from the time you have to spend in the university in this kind of education when you work in teams. We are getting energy in this way.” ”Working in groups we get mental support from each other; it is also a responsibility so that we won’t drop out easily.” (Xiangyun Du 2005)

Team work – HOW? Students are in charge of forming their own groups Project groups choose their own project It is important to be aware of different roles in the group and to learn how to use strengths in a constructive way while improving on weaknesses A Contract of Cooperation (CoC) is a useful tool in making mutual expectations explicit.

Group contract – an example It might be a good idea to make a kind of formal contract with the students to create …

BREAK 15 minuts

Multiple learning resources Social activities Exam Report writing Studying engineering via group projects Group meeting Life Multiple learning resources Brainstorm Participating communities of practice – active learning, communication, organization, and management Presentation Subgroup work Compromise Disagreement Discussion

Diversity of group situation

Diversity of group situation

If you feel confused, don’t worry. You are not the only one… You will have more opportunities to figure out…

Project – WHAT? A unique and complex task  TEAMWORK A creative and iterative process Time limited Goal oriented Documented result

Project – WHY? A survey carried out in 1997 showed that 75 % of companies wanted new employees to have good skills in project work. Working with realistic projects is motivating for students. It increases student activity and thereby increases the learning. Develops transferable skills, incl. project management, documentation etc.

Project – HOW? The project is supported by courses   The project is supported by courses Students have to look for relevant information beyond the courses

Project – HOW? Timing of a semester Weekly time Courses Project In order to get the best connection between the project courses and the project, the semester is timed as you see on this slide: Most of the project courses are given at the beginning of a semester, meaning that there will be less time in the beginning for the project work, but as the semester moves along the project time increases. We have found out in Aalborg that this is a good timing because the students need to know the theory on beforehand to be able to use it in the projects. And at the same time it takes some time to ”dig” into the project in the beginning, and this is calendar time – not actual time according to hours, so it doesn’t matter that they have less time for the project in the beginning, because they are not ready to work hard on the project until they have a broad understanding of the problem and the implications. When they reach this understanding – after 5-7 weeks – they uses a lot of time on the project, so it matches perfectly with the fact that now their are less courses, and for the last five weeks the students have almost all their time for project work, except for some of the study unit courses that are given at the end of a semester. Please move on to the next slide Project time

…..a week in September …..a week in November …..a week in December   Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Morning Course Afternoon Project Other …..a week in November   Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Morning Course Project Afternoon Other …..a week in December   Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Morning Project Course Afternoon Other

The four phase model of a Project Analysis Design Implementation Test The ideal Student Project Industriel Project Student Project too narrow Student Project too broad What does a typical project look like? Basically most projects has four phases: Analyse, design, implementation and test. If it is an industrial project, like creating a new mobile phone, then of course one have to analyse the whole product and its market situation before designing the whole phone, implementing it and test all parts alone and together before releasing the phone to be produced. But a student project doesn't have to do it that way. If they try then they will find out that there isn't enough time and probably end somewhere between design and implementation. This is soon realized by the student and then some of them tries to narrow the project right from the beginning, choosing only to analyse a small part of the project, e.g.. The antenna of the mobile phone, and then design, implement and test that. But this is a too narrow approach where the students don't know the actual problem because they haven't analysed the whole problem. The right way to do a problem oriented project is to start with a problem that isn't too big and then analyse the whole problem, chose which part to design – probably the parts the students think they can learn the most by designing. Then again narrow the project by only implementing some parts, learning different implementation methods by using them once in stead of learning one method using it 5 times. Testing is of course done of all the implemented parts to be sure they work, but using more formal testing methods and making test reports is only done for a small part of the implemented parts in order to prove that the students can do it.

Problems - WHAT? It can be theoretical, practical, social, technical, symbolic-cultural or scientific It grows out of students’ wondering within different disciplines and professional environments It is the starting point directing the students’ learning process and situates the learning in a context It may involve an interdisciplinary approach in both the analysis and solving phase It has to be exemplary

Different kinds of Problems An Unsatisfactory Situation E.g. an increasing number of danish kids are getting fat An Un-Utilized Potential -The homepage of AAU is old fashioned Unknown Impacts - We want to investigate if and how IT and new technology can be used to improve kids habits towards doing regular exercising

Problems – WHY? ‘Real life’ problems are interdisciplinary and complex Working with ‘real life’ problems meets the learners' interests and enhances motivation It emphasizes development of transferable skills, i.e. analytical, problem solving and information processing skills

AAU students on problems ”We are engineers – our responsibility is to solve real technological problems.” ”This is the first time we found a real problem ourselves rather than getting something from supervisors. It is really exciting. It fits my way of learning. I learn better when I find the way myself. This way of learning is much better than only attending lectures, because I have to know why I need to learn this. When I know the objective clearly, I learn much better.” ”When working on a problem, I am strongly motivated and attracted. We need to solve this problem.” Xiangyun Du, 2005

Problems - HOW? You are working problem oriented when you Ask questions Point out contradictions Scrutinize sources of information Wonder upon given information Observe the lack of information Problematise the obvious

Strategies for problem analysis An unsatisfactory Situation Bottom-up analysis – from practise to technology WHO and WHY questions are dominating An Un-Utilized Potential Top down analysis – from technology to practise WHAT-IF questions are dominating Unknown Impacts Theoretical analysis – from technology and within WHAT questions are dominating

Survey of background knowledge Use your smartphone, tablet or labtop To go to webpage: m.socrative.com Enter room number: 42765 Answer question: How much experience do you have with project work in groups done as in the Aalborg PBL model? A: No experience at all B: A little experience C: Some experience D: Have tryed several times E: A lot of experience (almost expert)

Group exercise What are the most important things to make group work function well in the process of managing the project work? Please write down your opinions in the post-it – one point on each post-it Share within your group Categorize and organize them into 5 levels by priority in the poster A poster presentation

About the project Problem analysis Documentation

Problem analysis – WHAT? Looking at the problem from different perspectives/angles Dividing into different aspects/elements Examining all the aspects/elements one by one

Problem analysis - WHY? Me My wife Water What to do to get to my wife?

Problem analysis – HOW? 1) Post It brain storm 1) All group members write key words on PostIt stickers and place the stickers on the board. 2) All group members read the stickers and participate in (re-)structuring them into a relevant structure 3) All group members participate in assessing and choosing project activities, based on the structure

Problem analysis – HOW? 2) The 6 W model Why? What? Problem Whom? Where? How? When? Some times the students find it difficult to start analysing, so we help them by suggesting two tools already at the basic year, and i will present them for you, so that you also know. …….Demonstrate by using post it laps The first model can open a problem and the second one is very good for structuring a brain storm. The strength is that you get a chance to think for your self, you gets a good structure even though it might take some time and finally you can see if more than one has thought of the same (more laps)

Bottom up analysis Who What Where When Why How Who is causing the problem? Who says this is a problem? Who are impacted by this problem? Etc. What will happen if this problem is not solved? What are the symptoms? What are the impacts? Etc. Where does this problem occur? Where does this problem have an impact? Etc. When Why How When does this problem occur? When did this problem first start occurring? Etc. Why is this problem occurring? Why? Etc. How should the process or system work? How are people currently handling the problem? Etc.

Documentation 3 types of project documentation: Working papers Project diary Project report The project report have to be handed in by the end of the project period

Working papers – WHAT? All types of written documentation, whether on paper or as an electronic file, which is related to the project task, the project management the group work

Working papers – WHY? To capture, coordinate and distribute the information collected and/or created by individual members of the group, to the other group members as well as to the supervisor

Working papers – HOW? If written text the working papers should contain the following four parts: Header for identification Introduction (What? Why?) The main text Summary (What did we learn?)

Working papers – HOW? If diagrams, drawings etc. the working papers should as a minimum contain: Header for identification Explanatory text

Working papers – HOW? In the Contract of Cooperation you could include points on production of working papers: How to distribute the work tasks How many persons write in a sub-group How to give response to working papers How and when to get response from the supervisor

Diary A diary documents the most important activities and decisions in the group The group has to decide upon a suitable format for and content of the diary

Recommended group discussion Discussion within your project group: What are your goals and expectations to our project? What can you contribute to the project? Make a co-operation contract for your group