How to Use Problem-Based Learning in the Classroom

Robert Delisle

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About This Book

Engaging and motivating students—especially the least motivated learners—is a daily challenge. But with the process of problem-based learning (PBL), any teacher can create an exciting, active classroom where students themselves eagerly build problem-solving skills while learning the content necessary to apply them.

With problem-based learning, students' work begins with an ill-defined problem. Key to this problem is how it explicitly links something important in students' daily lives to the classroom. This motivational feature is vital as students define the what, where, and how of resolving the problem situation. 

Problem-based learning may sound potentially chaotic and haphazard, but it rests on the firm foundation of a teacher's work behind the scenes. The teacher develops a problem long before students see it, specifically choosing the skills and content the problem will emphasize and matching those to curriculum and standards. 

Though a PBL problem will have no "right" answer, the teacher structures the experience so that specific learning takes place as students generate the problem-solving steps, research issues, and produce a final product. The teacher guides without leading, assists without directing. 

Robert Delisle details the PBL process, the teacher's role in problem-based learning, and important background information about the history of PBL. The book describes a variety of PBL lessons, including problems, a chart for organizing student research, and information about assessment.

See the book's table of contents and read excerpts.

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About the Author

ROBERT DELISLE is Associate Professor of Education and Chair of the Department of Specialized Services in Education, Lehman College, City University of New York. He teaches in the graduate program in reading.

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