An Analysis of Problem—based learning

Xue Ni

【Abstract】Problem-based learning （PBL） is different from the traditional way of teaching in the relationships between the teacher and the student and the implement of teaching procedure. This article analyzes the advantage of PBL and the new challenges to the teachers and students in PBL teaching to help the future classroom teaching.

【Key words】Problem-based learning； advantage； challenges

【摘要】PBL（基于問題的學習）是以教師和學生與傳統教學過程的實施之間的關系，傳統的教學方式很不同。本文探析了PBL教學法的優勢以及在PBL教學法使用中帶給教師和學生的新挑戰，以期對英語教學有所借鑒。

【關鍵詞】基于問題的學習 優勢 挑戰

PBL （Problem-based learning） is a kind of new teaching paradigm， which put the students in the chaos， complex， ill-structured situations to make them to analyze the problems and solve these problems by themselves. In the whole procedure， both teachers and students really face the authentic problems in their professional and personal lives. The role of the teacher is to continue to stimulate students to think， explore， and solve the problems. The challenge in teaching a PBL model is creating powerful problems that lead students to realize the intended course learning outcomes.

Ⅰ. The advantage of PBL

The idea of the traditional teaching methods considers the knowledge as immutable conclusion. Learners just need to understand and memory the knowledge which are told by the teacher. The teachers just need to preach the content of the knowledge and assess the students knowledge by providing them with a set of well-structured problems. In this teaching paradigm， the responsibilities of the teacher and the student are very clear， and the role of the student is always in a passive position.

When we compared with the traditional teaching method， we can find that the PBL method has obvious advantages as follows： Firstly， PBL teaching method can make students study is more exploratory and initiative. Its the method of taking the student as the center of learning， and taking the problem as the starting point of learning. The students obtain the solutions and answers of the questions through discussing， checking materials and some way like that. Using this method can make the studentslearning more active to explore the final answer and increases motivation to learn. Secondly， The PBL teaching method can stimulate students' interest in learning and participation. They find the problems by themselves which can increase their interest in solving the problems. The learning process will be an active creation process. In addition， PBL benefits students to develop their ability of interpersonal communication. Finally， PBL teaching method enables students problem consciousness and cultivates the ability of thinking and solving. The PBL teaching method improves the students ability of critical thinking through the problems. The PBL breaks the disciplinary boundaries in the solving process. The student can obtain the solutions through a variety of thinking and cognitive style. Actually the process is gradually obtaining comprehensive thinking and problem solving ability. Compared with the focus on learning results， PBL pay more attention to the evaluation of learning process， which is beneficial to the individual growth.

Ⅱ.The new challenges to the teachers and students in PBL teaching

The PBL teaching method is an interdisciplinary approach to learning， which highlights that the student is the center of teaching， and the teacher is the key of teaching. Therefore in order to achieve the implementation of PBL， both the students and the teachers will meet higher challenges in PBL teaching.

Firstly， challenges for teachers： PBL is an open teaching mode， which put forward high demands to teacher's quality and teaching skills. On the one hand， the teachers need to master the professional and related knowledge， and they must have the ability of using and planning these knowledge. On the other hand， the teachers need to have full understanding of the students， and have a good skill of organization and management of the students and teaching. In the whole process of teaching， the teachers seem to be retired， but at the crucial moment， the teacher will help the student to establish the scaffold of learning. In other word， the teacher is no longer a knowledge base， but the knowledge facilitator and information consultation.

Secondly， challenges for students： To implement PBL successfully requires the students actively cooperation. The successful solutions of the problem require cooperation and collaboration among the team members. There will need more time and effort on the preparatory work than the regular classroom study. Because Chinese students receive “cramming education” in long-term and some of the students are just satisfied with the “good scores” as the learning results. They depend on the traditional education mode and lack of the sense of initiative to discover rand solve the problem. Therefore， the students should proceed from their selves to complete the role transformation from passive learners to the masters of learning.

Ⅲ.Conclusion

In a word， PBL can be considered a constructivist approach to instruction， emphasizing collaborative and self-directed learning and being supported by flexible teacher scaffolding. PBL assists to guide the student from theory to practice during their learning process through solving the problem. From this perspective the PBL teaching method is an effective teaching method.

作者簡介：薛妮（1980-），女，陜西商州人，研究生，西安文理學院外國語學院，助教，研究方向：英語課程與教學。