Abstract:

In the context of problem based learning, students, and in many cases also the staff members, engage in an active learning process. Problem is considered as a starting point – process aims at solving that problem.

What is seldom considered is how are these problems defined. How do they come about?
In this paper I will describe a pedagogical practice introduced in the Diaconia University of Applied Sciences, Finland (Diak). A blog was introduced during the spring 2016. Blog is used for publishing students’ texts and other materials produced during two study units (Ammattialan kehittämistyön välineet I 3cr & Ammattialan kehittämistyön välineet II 2cr).During these study units’ students familiarize with Diak’s projects and co-operation between Diak and its’ partners. Students pick up open issues from projects and co-operation and innovate new projects, services, start-ups or products based on and complementing the previous ones.

In a blog students publish they ideas and plans and comment on the ideas and plans of their fellow students. Also, Diak RDI staff have an obligation to read and comment students work. Blog makes it possible to invite Diak partners to comment and develop students’ ideas further.

Blog creates an arena for interaction and discussion in order to define the problem before the actual process of solving the problem starts. It provides an informal venue for students to test their ideas and get feed-back. Also, Diak RDI experts and Diak partners can participate in the problem definition. This way problems are even more firmly based on the real-life issues. This will motivate students further.

I will argue that while problem based learning usually puts great emphasis on the process of solving the problem and learning this stimulates, similar focus should be on the definition of the problem. Problems should not be defined by the staff members and simply provided for the students. Instead, students should take part in the problem definition. This opens up possibilities for co-operation between students, staff members and partners. Furthermore, defining an issue or a problem requires argumentation skills. Also, it steers students into finding background knowledge about the issue at hand, and even more importantly, it pushes those involved into weighting the significance of that background knowledge and measuring different ways of framing and defining the problem. Maybe most importantly, this setting requires one to measure whether there is a problem to be solved in the first place.

Keywords:

Problem based learning, blog.