693Greenwald

I definitely appreciated reading this article because I am currently taking PBL. When reading, I started to think and reflect on my PBL experience throughout this semester. The article also reiterated some key things that I plan to tka eiwht me and possibly us ein my future at work, etc
 * Ashley N. Smith**
 * PBL has givn me another perspective on group work as a whole. WHen I first started that class, I was not veyr excited about working in a group. The reason is/was, oftne in groups some members slack and others have to take on that weight in order to get the project done. After the first few weeks of class in PBL, I appreciated the 10 step approach to PBL which was also discussed in this article. The most important piece in my opinion is: Conducting the self-assessment. Since Ive started CCT, I have learned from many courses and instructors about the important of refelction. It also helps to clarify thinhs within your own mind, as well as rmeind you of important items to hold onto and take with you to apply to future endeavors.
 * I can also agree with my classmates below on how the article discussed the idea of collabortaion. This is a great tool to learn to be able to do well in the workforce. Collaboration happens to be a very effective learning tool in regards to communication.
 * I also like the idea presented about thinking coaches....Nina did this very well in our PBL class. Because of that experience, I have changed my thinking/mind completely on how my dieal instructor would be.

- I read this article a few semesters ago at the beginning of my own PBL experience. It is remarkable how much more I value this method than I did when I was just beginning it //and// when I was engaged in it. - The reminder of the 10-steps is very helpful. I have used some of the steps in my classroom but have not yet planned an activity in which students follow through with each of the steps, from beginning to end. - The emphasis on collaboration is absolutely necessary as we strive to teach student effective communication skills.
 * Alyssa J. Hinkell, Spring 2009**
 * Interesting… **

- I am still exploring my role as a teacher/”thinking” coach and am wondering what I need to employ in order to do this well. It is very challenging to focus more on my role as a facilitator than the in-front of the class instructor and one that I try to practice on regular basis in order to become more comfortable in it. - Even with all of the research and thinking I have done with my Synthesis, I am wondering how to further foster the stakeholder role in students. I am wondering what other methods teachers use to really “hook” kids into the learning. - I need to think through how the PBL process could be adapted in my classroom. In some ways, I think it does lend itself more, at least superficially, to the science classroom. Still, there are quite a few topics in our study of ancient civilizations that I think would be greatly supported through the PBL process. - I am curious if other teachers in my school have used this process or have, at the very least, been introduced to it. I would like to email the staff a smaller version of the article and the 10-step model.
 * Puzzling… **
 * Important to find out… **

I appreciate this reading in the way that it is well organized and clear to understand. For example it presented three key features in a lesson such as: 1. Initiating learning with a problem 2. Exclusively using ill-defined problems 3. And teachers acting as “thinking” coaches (Gallagher, 1995) The steps explain that I need to state the problems then I need to know what the problem is and why I need to fix it. And for doing it all, I need coaches such as professors to help me in the right direction.
 * Diana Truong, 4/09**

The article also mentions three characteristics: 1. An initial or present state from which to begin 2. A goal state to be achieved 3. And a set of actions or operations needed to get from the initial state to the goal state. This part is to tell me to state where my starting point is, then how I need to have some planning and decisions to work on my problems such as actions and in the end where do I want my problems/ goals to turn out to be.

The one quote that I really like from this reading is: “Understanding is deep learning that goes well beyond simply knowing; it means doing thought demanding activities, finding evidence, and interpreting information in new ways” (Perkins and Blythe, 1994) What I think this quote telling me is that it is not simply identifying the problem is good enough. But to understand the full of meaning of the problem by finding the ideas and how it effecting or can help you that’s matter.

In conclusion, I feel that this article is very helpful with my action research paper. It also have many PBL steps that can help and lead people in the right direction such as pursue problem, map problem, analyze results and so on. Overall, the reading is discussing science matter; however, I feel that the methods can refer to all solutions when it comes to solving problems.