University of Delaware Focuses on Problem-Based Learning As Part of Initiative to Transform Undergraduate Education

To better educate their undergraduates, many research universities have created centers to study and improve learning outcomes, train professors, design and reform curricula, and spread the word about new teaching methods. As part of a collection of forward thinking and trend-setting institutions, the University of Delaware founded the Institute for Transforming Undergraduate Education (ITUE) in 1997.

Reinventing Undergraduate Education:
A Blueprint for America's Research Universities, the 1998 Boyer report, praised the University of Delaware (UD) for adopting problem-based learning in all basic science classes as one promising approach to improving undergraduate education. The report criticized some other research universities for failing to connect with their undergraduates. Problem-based learning (PBL) is now one focus for UD faculty. More than 3,000 students have taken classes based in PBL methodology as a result, and one-third of the faculty at the university have been trained in these methods.

PBL began at UD in 1992 when several basic science professors were impressed with a conference presentation they attended devoted to a teaching model of learning used in medical schools. The group first assessed how effective their existing teaching methods were and then set to work to design multidisciplinary problem-based learning approaches and strategies for basic science courses. They eventually integrated PBL into undergraduate instruction in both introductory and advanced courses in a number of disciplines.

"PBL is an instructional method that challenges students to 'learn to learn,' working cooperatively in groups to seek solutions to real world problems" says Barbara Duch, one of ITUE's co-directors and associate director of the Mathematics and Science Education Resource Center. PBL methods put students in the position of solving practical problems through exhaustive research much the way a scientist would. This method has the added effect of forcing students to consider how they learn most effectively.

This type of methodology does come with challenges. Faculty often have to start from scratch, composing their own problems for students to use. Finding appropriate course materials can also be difficult. Duch also suggests that students have to be prepared to "buy into" the process, and professors must make sure that students delve deeply into the problems rather than being satisfied with surface solutions. Managing groups and helping students to manage their own groups is also challenging for faculty.

At UD, professors often make use of team teaching and peer tutors to support PBL. Instructors serve as roving tutor-facilitators, spending part of each class with each group or enlisting the help of undergraduate peer tutor-facilitators. This approach has proved especially effective in large classes.

As use of PBL has become more popular at UD, the instructors who use it have used their diverse perspectives and experiences to help peer tutor-facilitators learn the needed skills to support their efforts in the classroom. These undergraduates are specially trained to guide students in PBL classrooms as part of their own senior capstone learning experiences.

All instructors and students benefit and learn from the PBL process. Newer students gain insight into the "real" work of their intended majors and receive timely advice for how to prepare for their immediate future at the university. The peer tutors can help other students in a more formal way and benefit themselves. If they are interested in a teaching career, this is an opportunity for them to gain experience. Teaching a subject is also frequently the best way to learn it. Professors, when confronted with a large class, benefit from the time tutors can spend one on one with other students. Also, professors are able to think about teaching and learning in a larger context-instead of focusing only on whether they've covered the a fixed set of material, they focus additionally on whether students are actually absorbing concepts well enough to put them into practice, elaborate on them, and challenge accepted ideas.

How did a small group of professors manage to institute such sweeping changes in the way students were educated? They stuck together: "Lone ranger reformers don't usually last for the long haul," comments Professor Duch. "There needs to be collegial support, administrative structure and support, and some institutionalization of the effort." The faculty also shared strategies, formed their own models, and also shared them with other institutions.

Since the university advocates active learning as one of its academic priorities, the institute training is very popular with faculty. They report a spirit of renewed interest in bridging the gap between research and teaching on campus. The result is cumulative, and Duch says, "[S]tudents who take multiple PBL courses develop good group and facilitation skills as well as research skills."

For more information on problem-based learning, visit www.udel.edu/pbl/.

For an article published in Trusteeship by AAC&U President Carol Geary Schneider on the most recent 2001 Boyer report, "Reforming Undergraduate Education" visit www.aacu.org/press_room/perspectives/trusteeship02.cfm.

For sample articles from ITUE's online journal, The Problem-Based Learning Clearinghouse, visit www.udel.edu/pblc/samples/.

For information about AAC&U's undergraduate science education reform project, SENCER, see www.aacu.org/SENCER/index.cfm.