week 1
week 2
week 3
week 4
week 5
week 6
week 7
week 8
week 9
week 10
week 11
week 12
week 13
week 14
week 15
week 16

Week 9: Tropical Forests
Weeks 7, 8, and 9 make up the second three-week cycle of the course. Currently, you are in Week C: Teacher as Designer.

Use what you have learned about Problem-Based Learning lessons from being a student of Tropical Forests to design your own PBL lesson about this environment and reflect on what you have learned about thinking systemically about Tropical Forests .

Assignment

Individual: (by midnight Sunday)

  • Review the PBL Design Rubric
  • Review the readings and references.
  • Post a draft of a PBL lesson for your students about Tropical Forests in the Teacher as Designer space in the Classroom.
  • Read your teammates' lessons. Revise your own.
  • Submit your lesson for a grade to your Portfolio in the Classroom and rate it using the rubric.
  • Act as a critical friend to two teammates by rating his or her lesson using the rubric in the Portfolio.

Need more detailed instructions? Click here

 

Readings

You will want to locate other resources locally and on the Internet to supplement these. Post the resources you find in the Resource Space in the Classroom.

Reference: "Teaching Approaches in an Earth Systems Classroom." Science Is a Study of Earth: A Resource Guide for Curriculum Restructure. Section 5. pp. 81-118.


Web Sites

Exploring the Environment™. A NASA Classroom of the Future™ site featuring Problem-Based Learning activities.

Problem Based Learning: a Paradigm Shift or a Passing Fad? This article, written by Gwendie Camp, of the University of Texas Medical Branch, traces the history of PBL and relates PBL to other established learning methods. It also differentiates between "pure" PBL and variations of PBL. It states the finding that PBL students show improved knowledge retention and learning skills. The author also predicts that possible changes in the ways PBL is practised will occur as the PBL explosion continues and cites some possible future innovations.

Creating An Appropriate Problem This site discusses three critical components a PBL problem ought to have - relevance, coverage, and complexity.

Problem-Based Learning in Biology In this article, Peter Ommundsen outlines an approach to learning biology using PBL. He provides a sample student worksheet and also lists twenty typical case problems.

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