Multilayered Learning Program for Problem-Based Learning Classrooms

基于问题的学习（PBL）是一种有效的教育策略，主要用于医学和专业学校，可以解决许多在本科教育中发现的缺陷。通过在小组中解决现实世界的问题，学生可以在激发传统教学法中经常被忽视的高阶思维技能的背景下学习内容。此外，PBL方法适应各种学习风格、背景和能力。在医学院的模式中，每个学生小组都有一个专门的专家导师——这种师生比例在大多数学院和大学是不切实际的。为了应对这一挑战，作为将PBL引入本科课堂的更广泛课程改革计划的一部分，我们建议扩展我们的试点经验，使用高年级本科生作为解决问题过程的导师/小组促进者。我们计划开发并记录一门新的《教学方法教程》课程，以支持PBL多层次项目的中间层（教师、研究生和本科生导师以及学生的重叠贡献）。除了提供在入门阶段使用基于问题的教学方法（它可以对随后的学习产生最大的影响）之外，该计划还将为吸引优秀学生从事教学职业提供自然的发展，并使他们能够在毕业前对所选专业有一个全面的了解，作为最终的经验。对于学习PBL课程的学生，这些高级导师将帮助他们在学习文化和高中与大学之间的期望之间进行困难的过渡，特别是当他们涉及到PBL的新挑战时。该计划的文件将包括一份教学手册，一个专业制作的教学视频，以及该计划每个层面的短期和长期评估。我们将通过在教育期刊上发表文章、在专业会议上发表演讲，以及在包括大学预科教师在内的关于基于问题的学习的年度会议上举办研讨会等方式进行传播。

Problem-based learning (PBL), an effective educational strategy mainly used in medical and professional schools, can address many of the perceived deficiencies in undergraduate education. By working on real-world problems in small groups, students learn content in a context that motivates the higher order thinking skills often neglected in traditional pedagogy. Furthermore, the PBL approach accommodates a variety of learning styles, backgrounds, and abilities. In the medical school model, each student group has a dedicated expert tutor - a student to faculty ratio impractical at most colleges and universities. To deal with this challenge, and as part of a more general program of curriculum reform to introduce PBL into undergraduate classrooms, we propose to extend our pilot experiences with use of upper-class undergraduates as tutors/group facilitators for the problem-solving process. We plan to develop and document a new course in Tutorial Methods of Instruction to support this middle layer of a multilayered program (the overlapping contributions of faculty, graduate and undergraduate peer tutors, and students) for PBL. In addition to providing the means for using problem-based instruction at the introductory level (where it can have the greatest impact in subsequent learning) the program will provide a natural progression for attracting good students to teaching careers, and will allow them to gain an overview of their chosen major as a culminating experience prior to graduation. For students in the PBL courses, these upper-class tutors will assist with the often difficult transition between the learning culture and expectations of the high school versus college experience, particularly as they relate to the novel challenges of PBL. Documentation of the program will include an instructional manual, a professionally produced teaching video, and both short and long-term evaluation at each layer of the program. Dissemination will be achieved through publication in education journals, presentati ons at professional meetings, and workshops at our established annual conference on problem-based learning that includes precollege teachers.