The facilitator/tutor role
From Woods, D. (1996) "Problem-based Learning: resources to gain the most from PBL".
"Whether you are a tutor for a small group or a single instructor facilitating the PBL approach with classes of 20 to 80 students at once (as I am), the same attitude toward facilitation skills is needed.
Instructors or lecturers - by their very name - see their role primarily as lecturing. They stand and deliver. They do their own thing and try to facilitate learning. However, in PBL the instructor's role is to facilitate. The instructor is a coach. The coach does not do his/her own thing. The coach tries to bring out the best in the group.
- In PBL the coach or facilitator brings out the best from the group by:
asking leading and open-ended questions, to help the students explore the richness of the situation and to help them develop their critical thinking. - helping students reflect on the experiences they are having, because reflection develops professional skill (Schon, 1987); reflection improves problem solving (Kimbell et al., 1991) and elaboration and reflection improves the learning (Schmidt, 1983; Coles, 1991). These reflective skills are part of effective problem solving and group skills.
- monitoring progress, because successful problem solvers monitor their thought processes about once per minute to ensure that they are still on track and that they understand where they are in the process (Schoenfeld, 1984). Monitoring is a key component in effective problem solving.
- challenging their thinking, so as to nurture deep learning and a search for meaning and so that they develop their critical thinking skills.
- raising issues that need to be considered, because groups without facilitators tend to identify about 60% of the teacher's intended goals (Dolmans et al., 1993).
- stimulating, encouraging and creating and maintaining a warm, safe atmosphere in which individuals will be willing to share experiences and ideas without fear of being ridiculed, because trust is the key ingredient to develop (Covey, 1989). Trust is nurtured by such an environment.
All of these interventions address the process skills needed: skill in problem solving, critical thinking, group process, change management and lifetime learning.
The facilitator is not the group's expert resource who will provide the answers nor should the facilitator use this as a chance to lecture."
Advice for tutors:
Adapted from Ambury (1992) and Dion (1996)
- assign or select groups the week prior to PBL starting. In the first week set up the room prior to class with group numbers on tables / seats. Allow room for lecturer to access all groups (which may mean leaving whole rows between groups where seats are fixed as in a formal lecture theatre.)
- don't interrupt the flow of the group
- don't interrupt when you see an obvious error - just make a note to make sure they pick up on this point later
- "Sometimes they'll make an obvious error. But if you interrupt, you destroy the whole discussion. So I just make one-line little notes of things to remind them about or correct, and then when we're finished, or when there's a natural break, I have my little checklist ." (Tutor quoted in Ambury, 1992)
- have members make charts and illustrations for the group to clarify concepts (Ambury)
- count to ten before intervening with suggestions - waiting will often enable students to get there themselves when asked to provide information by a group, work with the group to restate the need as a research question to be pursued by the group
- For large groups: If doing the problem within one class period, incorporate a challenging "bonus" question at the end which is open-ended -- this gives fast groups a challenge to work with while slow groups are finishing the required work.