Whats the Problem?

     This weeks reading focused on the problem solving approach to teaching. After reading about the steps to facilitate problem based learning (PBL), I think the darkness has lifted and only the haze remains.

     As I am lesson planning I continuously catch myself falling into the powerpoint lecture mode and have to veer the lesson in another direction. Utilizing PBL is a great way to keep me out of that rut but I am having trouble grasping and envisioning how this would play out in an actual classroom. I understand the ideal situations, but my biggest concern is how do I create the felt need to solve a problem? For example if I tell my students that the poinsettia's in the greenhouse are losing their coloration and I need them to help figure out why, what if they do not care? I know it is my job as an educator to empower them to care but what if they do not? Should I have not told them and waited for a student to point it out?

     I can see the felt need already being there if a student or groups of students presents a problem, but not if I present the problem for them.

     In the reading it mentioned that PBL is something that has to be very carefully thought out and requires extensive planning. So, if a student presents a question/ problem to me should I not use PBL to achieve the answer? or do I have to delay the answer till I plan out how to implement a problem solving approach? Or is there another method that should be utilized in this situation?

     I have a lot of questions about this method of teaching, I most certainly see the benefits of utilizing it, but I don't think I have ever really experienced it in a classroom setting from beginning to end. I believe that I have experienced parts of the PBL method but have never went through the entire process of learning.

    I think once I can get my students to identify a problem then I could guide them through the next steps of the PBL method, its just the initial step that I am really hung up on. I feel confident that during class this week we will touch on this and other concerns about this method and look at other methods of teaching that are similar to PBL but very different at the same time.