Derby College successfully applied to the Edge Foundation 2018/19 Grant Fund in respect of a research project on Problem Based Learning. The project looked at how to embed and critique Problem Based Learning practice to support students studying vocational and technical subjects to successfully transition to higher level learning. Derby College used a consortium approach to the project, working with two other providers and looking at two distinct pathways, land-based and engineering, across Levels 1 to 4. Sophie Harris, Fashion Business and Retail Teacher, Art and Design Teacher and Project Lead talks a little about the project and the findings.
What sort of young person do we want to emerge from compulsory education and how can our study programmes achieve this?
Back in 1980, Barrows and Tamblyn trialled an approach to the study of medicine in Canada, which saw the introduction of problem-based learning (PBL) as a teaching, learning and assessment strategy.
Students were required to immerse themselves in the learning process using problem scenarios as opposed to traditionally being delivered content from a teacher.
Problem based learning advocates that curriculum is a process, we do not know fully know what students are going to learn but we can be assured (hopefully) that throughout the learning journey, holistic knowledge, skills and behaviours will be developed through a student-centered learning environment.
The first ‘E’ - Employers
Transitioning from ‘traditional’ directed teaching to explorative, real-life learning offers students the opportunities to engage in career enhancing experiences suggests Cameron (2020). PBL connects the curriculum learning to industry continuously every time students tackle a co-designed problem with employers, becoming familiar with their ‘ways of working: employers bring the ‘real world’ to the classroom. As students master this way of learning, they become increasingly motivated as they connect “why” they are learning content: it is brought to life.
Guile and Griffiths (cited in Cranmer, 2006) suggests it is meaningful engagement in activities that hold relevance with subject context, resulting in the natural development of employability skills; remove the employer from the project and we are merely left with a case study! The problems, learning and experiences lose authenticity for students.
The second ‘E’ - Expectation
An employer’s mindset will not only differ from ours (as teaching practitioners) but also of a student. Therefore, it is vital that expectations are addressed from the offset. We found that where we worked with employers with whom the curriculum area has established relationships helps. The approach and its benefits to employers and students needs to be explained in a ‘common’ language - lose the word pedagogy, keep it simple and focus on the advantages this teaching and learning strategy can have.
Employer involvement can vary, from a guest lecture or an industry visit right through to continued support and facilitation of larger projects. The key to the level of input relates to pathways, the problem that students will be tackling, employers’ time and the students’ current abilities. As suggested by one of our project practitioners ‘you have to find the right project for the right group of students and then agree what the employer will do.’
The third ‘E’ - Engagement
When gearing up for incorporating this teaching and learning approach, it is essential that we understand and respect the value students place on engagement with employers. Highlighted by Higher Education students: without PBL, skills that are required in current employment vacancies would not be part of the study programme due to them being non-existent in qualification specifications. Differing from previous teaching and learning strategies, students clarified the essence of real-world application, explaining that they are able to prove what they have theoretically learnt whist tailoring personal interests (always a bonus if we can genuinely be in interested in the content) and exploring ‘real life’ CV attributes through PBL.
“Students generally valued the learning approach as it better contextualised the learning and made it more practical. Teachers felt it was beneficial in not just helping students understand new topics but learn how to apply them.”