Problem-based Learning into the Future: Imagining an Agile PBL Ecology for Learning

204 Pages·2017·2.38 MB·English

by  Megan Yih Chyn A. Kek

Megan Yih Chyn A. Kek · Henk Huijser
Problem-based
Learning into
the Future
Imagining an Agile PBL Ecology for
Learning
Problem-based Learning into the Future
Megan Yih Chyn A. Kek (cid:129) Henk Huijser
Problem-based Learning
into the Future
Imagining an Agile PBL Ecology
for Learning
Megan Yih Chyn A. Kek Henk Huijser
University of Southern Queensland Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University
Toowoomba , QLD , Australia Suzhou , Jiangsu , China
Batchelor Institute
Batchelor , NT , Australia
ISBN 978-981-10-2452-8 ISBN 978-981-10-2454-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-2454-2
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016955960
© Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2017
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In memory of Howard S. Barrows
Foreword
W e live, so we are frequently told, in a liquid age, an age that is at once fl uid and
unpredictable but also potentially challenging and even destabilising. In this situa-
tion, the idea of ecology has much to offer. It points both to systems and forces that
stand independently of human perceptions that have a real presence in the world. It
hints at the interconnectedness of those systems – both internally and across them –
but also at their frailty. But more still, it suggests that humanity in general, and
human beings as individuals, have possibilities for responding to this set of circum-
stances so as to advance well-being in the world. All of this has application to the
world of learning, for learning can be considered as a set of interconnected systems,
both personal and institutional and both formal and informal. And these systems can
be fragile and impaired – learning may not be being enhanced as it might – and yet
they could be enhanced by human interventions.
I f this book, Problem - Based Learning into the Future : Imagining an Agile PBL
Ecology for Learning , had just spelt out this story of learning understood through an
ecological gaze, it would have earned its spurs. Here, for instance, the narrative
shares ideas about the interrelationships between formal and informal learning, as
well as learning through the lifespan (‘lifewide’ as well as ‘lifelong’ learning);
about authenticity, as learners rightly have an interest in attending to their own well-
being; and about learning as situated within learning communities. This book,
therefore, opens a wide vista presaged by the very idea of ecological learning.
However, it does much more than this, having – as I judge it – four achievements,
all of which are hinted at in the title.
First, this book brings out the dual aspect of the idea of ecology, in that it both
points to intertwined systems in the world and to the possibilities for human action
that might enhance those systems. Second , it brings the idea of agility into play, in
thinking about learning as an ecological space. This is a brilliant ploy, for the notion
of agility speaks of nimble-footedness but also of powers of the mind and of sys-
tems and institutions. Nimbleness can be seen both in individuals, in their own
learning stances and in learning arrangements, which have the capacities to encour-
age or thwart individuals’ efforts. It can also be seen in institutions – educational
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viii Foreword
institutions, for instance: do they have the capacities to respond swiftly to diffi cult
situations and the capacities to refl ect on themselves as learning institutions? T hird ,
the book places problem-based learning at its heart. This is surely an astute gambit,
for problem-based learning conjures up fl uidity and fl exible responses that have to
be characteristic of ecological learning at all of its levels.
Fourth , the argument nicely brings out the signifi cance of the imagination in
developing ecological learning. Ecological learning is not given. It is not just already
in the world, simply to be discerned. Rather, it has to be imagined, if it is fully to be
brought off. And, in that imagining, all manner of considerations and judgements
will need to come into play. What might it be to orient a particular curriculum more
in an ecological direction? What could it be to enhance the experiences of a group
of students (on this course, on that course) so that they are ecological learners?
What might it look like for a university to tilt more towards a concern with an eco-
logical conception of learning?
B ut this imagination – this imagining of ecological learning – has to live in the
real world. Learning is already ecological, whether that feature is recognised or not.
More than ever before, as they struggle through life, individuals are learning in all
manner of ways and in all manner of situations. Inescapably, they have their being
in multiple learning spaces, and those learning moments stand in various relation-
ships with each other.
T o a large extent, those learning experiences may be deliberately taken up, as
learning ventures , and so show something approaching a coherent pattern. An indi-
vidual, having say taken early retirement, might opt to take up learning the piano
and to sing in a choir and consciously form a pattern of learning challenges that hold
together in a personal self-narrative. But in a complex world, with individuals char-
acteristically having multiple experiences even in the course of a single day, learn-
ing is also bound to be somewhat haphazard. One never knows what the day will
bring and what experiential challenges may unfold.
A n individual’s learning ecology takes on, in turn, a signifi cant degree of u ntow-
ardness. And some of those experiences will present ideas that clash. This is inevi-
tably the case, for ideas spring out of frameworks that themselves stand in tension
with each other. For example, frameworks of justice, equity, freedom, openness,
security, integrity, understanding, reason, emotion, duty and authenticity all have
their own trajectories, criss-crossing each other with different velocities.
A n individual’s learning ecology is, therefore, given to some extent. It has – to
put the matter formally – an ontological robustness. It really exists – in the real
world. It springs out of a complex world, and additionally it poses real dilemmas
and awkwardnesses. These latter are features of s uper complexity, that phenomenon
in which readings of a situation and ideas proliferate and frequently stand in indis-
soluble rivalry. And this world, replete with both its complexity and supercomplex-
ity, is the world in which individuals, communities and societies have to navigate.
No wonder that many crave for order and simplicity and, on occasions, turn to
ready-made ideologies that appear to make sense of the world.
L earning ecologies, accordingly, not only are present in the world but they may
be impaired. It is here that both challenges and responsibilities open up for those in
Foreword ix
educational settings, for learning ecologies – at all levels, of individuals, communities
and society – can become a focus of educational attention. This is not just a matter
of their ‘sustainability’ (a term beloved of the ecologists) or even of their repair but
is rather a matter of their enhancement and, thereby, and as stated, of their being
imagined. This is a very considerable educational challenge, to assist individuals
and communities in thinking about their own learning, in equipping them with the
resources to forge productive connections across learning experiences, in helping
them to be more agile in responding effectively to the many learning challenges that
will assuredly present and in aiding their own imaginative powers and qualities to
live purposefully amid dynamic learning situations.
It is a measure of this book that it works in all of these ways, providing concep-
tual, theoretical and practical resources as it does so, and its authors, Megan Kek
and Henk Huijser, are much to be applauded. They have given us a volume that can
be and should be mined many times, with its pretty well inexhaustible seams, which
only open to yet further issues and possibilities. Like all good learning ecologies –
and this book is a learning ecology in itself – it has its own qualities of continuing
emergence.
Institute of Education Ronald Barnett
University College London
London , UK
June 2016
Pref ace
We originally started this book with a notion of ‘revitalising’ problem-based learn-
ing (PBL) in university classrooms by wanting to sustain the key essentials of effec-
tive PBL through the revitalisation or transformation of the curriculum, problems,
teaching approach and assessment. Even though PBL is being used differently in
different disciplines, different cohorts and different cultures, not all are successful
or have their expectations met. So, we started this book project with the intention to
remind – to revitalise – teachers and administrators about the key essentials or non-
negotiables considered critical success drivers of PBL in their classrooms, courses,
programs and institutions. But something else happened along the way!
T here are many factors that may explain why different teachers and administra-
tors experience different results from their PBL implementation. It is only when we
refl ected on our own PBL teaching and implementation days – some good and some
bad – that we were reminded of Howard S. Barrows, one of the founding fathers of
PBL, as to the true intention of PBL in education. We remembered that it is always
about the students and their learning. To which many would say, ‘Me too, so what?’
For Howard and us, it is all about recognising and respecting our students, that is, as
soon as they complete their education, they can seamlessly immerse themselves into
society as active members of their professions and communities. We would hope
that they go on to become producers, creators, leaders and contributors in and for
society, as much as they would become consumers. A PBL teacher’s role is to create
the relevant and appropriate landscape with creativity and imagination during the
time students are with us to give them ample opportunities to engage and to be
rewarded and energised, rather than simply comply. What happened along the way
was that we began to explore in earnest the actual learning environments and every-
thing that contributes to that environment. Partly based on Megan’s PhD research
and partly on reviewers’ feedback on an earlier draft of the manuscript, this idea
began to morph into what we have ultimately called a n agile PBL ecology for
learning .
So what started as revitalising PBL, and as reminding teachers and administra-
tors on how to revitalise their university landscape, ultimately became a n agile PBL
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xii Preface
ecology for learning, a process of iterative and continuous renewal in our own
teaching and learning practices and a recognition of the complexity of factors that
feed into, and out of, the learning process. The concept of an agile PBL ecology for
learning thus helped us to illuminate the true intentions and purpose of PBL in edu-
cation and thereby imagine future applications. That is, PBL must perpetually stay
responsive to the dynamics of society to carry out our responsibility as teachers in
preparing our students for society, as well as recognise and draw on what they bring
to the learning environment, for each student has a history and a set of skills; no one
is an empty vessel. However, students’ learning, growth and development cannot be
assumed. Hence, by focusing on a continuously adaptive approach to education
renewal, we believe that an agile PBL approach to curriculum design, teaching,
assessment, student support, scholarship of teaching and research, sustainability
and evaluation is innovative and a gile enough to extend on and sustain the true
intentions of PBL in universities: to contribute to society through preparing students
to be agile, adaptive, innovative and creative global citizens.
We invite you to explore our ideas contained in this book. In ‘walking our own
talk’, this book is necessarily agile and cross-disciplinary, connecting with knowl-
edge from a variety of disciplinary fi elds, including (but not limited to) educational
psychology, learning sciences, student approaches to learning, approaches to teach-
ing, management, educational technology, organisational behaviour, leadership,
assessment, evaluation, marketing, media and communications, innovation, educa-
tional environment, professional learning, academic development, student develop-
ment, student experience, human development, counselling and quality. In the end,
we hope you will be able to recognise and situate yourself within an agile PBL
ecology for learning, be that as a reader, educator or learner.
P.S. Henk and Megan contributed equally to the book – it was truly a
partnership!
Toowoomba , QLD , Australia Megan Yih Chyn A. Kek
Suzhou , Jiangsu , China Henk Huijser
May 2016