Філологічні науки/ 1.Методика викладання мови і літератури

Zaika L.A.

Dnipropetrovsk College of Economy and Technology, Ukraine

Technologies of problem-based learning

at the English language lessons

Problem-based learning(PBL) is such organization of the educational process, the basis of which is creation by a teacher of self-dependent searching activity of students to solve educational problems during which new knowledge, abilities and skills are formed, aptitudes, activeness, interests, erudition, creative thinking and other personally significant peculiarities are developed.

The goals of PBL are to help the students develop flexible knowledge, effective problem solving skills, self-directed learning, effective collaboration skills and intrinsic motivation.

The aims and tasks of the problem-based learning are the following ones:

-to obtain knowledge abilities and skills;

-to master the ways of independent activities;

-to develop cognitive and creative activities;

Problem is such kind of question the answer to which is in the knowledge obtained by the students and ways of activities, and thus, requires appropriate practical activities different from simple information learning. Any problem must contain cognitive difficulty, that is, unknown branch of knowledge which students have to master; the problem must be related to the student’s emotions (novelty, dissatisfaction with the available knowledge and wonder); the problem must foresee an opportunity to suggest hypotheses and reflect specific character of the science of educational subject.

PBL can be used to enhance content knowledge while simultaneously fostering the development of communication, problem-solving, critical thinking, collaboration and self-directed learning skills.

PBL requires students to be meta-cognitively aware. That is, students must learn to be conscious of what information they already know about the problem, what information they need to know to solve the problem and the strategies to use to solve the problem. Being able to articulate such thoughts helps students become more effective problem-solvers and self-directed learners. Initially, however, many students are not capable of this sort of thinking on their own. For this reason, the instructor must become a tutor or “cognitive coach” who models inquiry strategies, guides exploration and helps students clarify and pursue their research questions.

A teacher doesn’t present finished knowledge during problem-based learning, but sets a problem, makes it interesting for a student and provokes a student to find the way to solve problems.

PBL can be considered a constructivist approach to instruction, emphasizing collaborative and self-directed learning and being supported by flexible teacher scaffolding.

Methods of problem-based learning are the following ones: problem exposition, heuristic, searching and researching method. Methodic ways to be used by a teacher to create problem situations are different:

-a teacher leads the students to contradictions and proposes students to find the way to solve the problem independently;

-a teacher clashes contradictions of practical activity;

-a teacher presents different points of view concerning one and the same question;

-a teacher provokes students to make comparisons, generalizations, conclusions from situations, and compares facts;

-a teacher asks questions (for generalization, substantiation, concrete definition, logic of thinking);

-a teacher defines problem theoretic and practice tasks (for example, partly searching or researching);

-a teacher sets research tasks (for, example, with insufficient or excessive data, with contradictive data, making mistakes consciously etc.).

PBL may position students in a simulated real world working and professional context which involves different problems that will need to be understand and resolved to some outcome. PBL addresses the need to promote lifelong learning through the process of inquiry and constructivist learning.

Students construct new knowledge from their experiences through the processes of accommodation and dissimilation. Conditions for success of the problem-based learning are the following ones:

-problematical character of the educational material (surprise or interest of a student);

-activeness of a student (knowledge must be mastered with pleasure);

-the training must be related to students’ life and job.

Students are presented with a problem and through discussion within their group activate their knowledge. Within their group they develop possible theories or hypotheses to explain the problem. Together they identify learning issues to be researched. They construct a shared primary model to explain the problem at hand. Facilitators provide scaffold which is a frame work on which students can construct knowledge relating to the problem. After the initial team work students work independently in self-directed study to research the identified issues. The students re-group to discuss their findings and refine their initial explanations based on what they learned. PBL follows a constructivist perspective in learning as the role of the instructor is to guide and challenge the learning process rather than strictly providing knowledge.

Thus, a teacher creates such problem situation which appears in the result of such organization of students’ relations with the object of cognition that helps to find out cognitive contradictions. Such problem situation is characterized by intellectual difficulty and necessity to solve it. The main point of the cognitive contradiction is in impossibility to solve the appearing contradictions with the help of knowledge and ways of activity the students have.

A teacher can create problem situation by the way of:

-collision of students with phenomena and facts which require theoretical explanation;

-urging students to analyze outer contradictory facts, phenomena and statements;

-urging students to choose the facts and statements which are considered true from contradictory ones and substantiate the choice;

-urging students to self-dependent comparison of facts, phenomena and actions;

-urging students to suggest hypotheses, to draw conclusions and verify them etc.

Thus, PBL assists to guide the students from theory to practice during their work through solving the problem.