Problem Based Learning Rubric

Teaching and Learning Events

Exemplary "4" Criteria

(1) Learning Experience Design

(5pts)

Ø      Description of situation

Ø      Characteristics of learners

Ø      Intended learner outcomes

Ø      Coach's role

Ø      Learner's role

(2) Mind Mapping

(5pts)

Ø      Problem situation

Ø      Content Connections

Ø      Learner Outcomes

Ø      Skills (e.g. problem solving, data gathering, question formulation, reasoning, evaluating)

Ø      Identification of Stakeholders

Ø      Impact on society

 

(3) Preparing the Learners

(5pts)

Ø      Team building

Ø      Critical thinking activities

Ø      Simulations

Ø      Small scale, structured PBL experience

(4) Meeting the Problem

(5pts)

Ø      Developing a personal, authentic stake by role playing engineers, consultants and concerned citizens

Ø      Providing an authentic letter or document

Ø      Enlisting someone asking for help

Ø      Dramatizations

Ø      Video clips, newspaper articles, and public notices

(5) Identifying what we know, what we need to know, and our ideas

(5pts)

Ø      Coach students to probe what students know

Ø      Explore issues the students believe are critical to finding out more about the problem

Ø      Structure and construct information gathering events (research, interviews, surveys)

(6) Defining the Problem Statement

(5pts)

Ø      Pulls together the problem and the conditions within which it must be solved

Ø      Revisited as information changes student understanding

Ø      Document hunches about potential causes, solutions, and consequences

(7) Gathering and Sharing information

(5pts)

Ø      Structure groups for information gathering around "need to knows"

Ø      Design activities for information sharing including web resources

Ø      Coach students to eliminate extraneous information and focus on pertinent information

Ø      Design student self and peer assessment

(8) Generating Possible Solutions

(5pts)

Ø      Provide opportunities for students to articulate a full range of possibilities

Ø      Forum for recommending solutions

Ø      Generate a decision making matrix

(9) Determining the Best Fit of Solutions

(5pts)

Ø      Use the benchmarks of good thinking to evaluate the benefits and consequences of each solution

Ø      Consider which solutions get the students closer to their idealized solution

(10) Presenting the Solution (Performance  Assessment)

(5pts)

Ø      Outside experts serving on a panel

Ø      Use of a rubric for assessment of content, presentation skills, teamwork, and fit of solution

 

(11) Debriefing the problem

(5pts)

Ø      Review of effectiveness of strategies

Ø      Consider different approaches

Ø      Discussion of unresolved issues open to further investigation

Ø      Realistic impact of recommended solutions

 

Return to Module 6

 

Adapted from: Torp, L. and Sage, S. (1998). Problems as Possibilities. Alexandria, Virginia: ASCD