IMPLEMENTING PBL ONLINE AS A COLLABORATIVE LEARNING STRATEGY FOR TEACHERS: THE COLE ABSTRACT To use a Problem-Based-Learning (PBL) approach in an online context requires a major paradigm shift as well as using tools that were not designed specifically for such a student-driven, process-centred pedagogical paradigm. This becomes a problem when online resources and systems are used for supporting in-service teacher in their pursuit of furthering their education. Although the current theories of learning and teaching may represent the content of such courses, the online strategies used often conflict with the theory. In an attempt to study the formal implementation of PBL as a socialconstructivist pedagogical approach, into an online learning environment as a means to provide the tools for e-learning that would be closer in design to the current thinking on the very nature of learning, a prototype of a Collaborative Online Learning Environment (COLE) has been developed and is in the process of being tested with small groups. Preliminary results show that although many technical difficulties remain to be solved, using the environment does show evidence of some effect on beliefs about personal theories of learning. KEYWORDS Collaborative learning; collaborative knowledge construction; human-computer-interaction; problembased learning INTRODUCTION With a clear trend towards expressing educational objectives in the school systems more along the lines of competency development than of traditional knowledge or basic skills acquisition, we can now see some instructors and teachers promoting collaboration and problem solving as both skills to be learned in school as well as very powerful strategies for learning. The difficulty lies in that for many, this still implies an important, if not difficult, paradigm shift. To this, can be added the artificial separation of human knowledge into isolated disciplines or domains in order to facilitate the structuring, planning and delivery of curriculum in schools of every kind. In reaction to such reasoning, some professional university faculties like medicine and engineering have been adopting problem based learning (PBL) not as a strategy to deliver individual courses, but more as a total approach to implementing entire programs in order to prepare the students to eventually be able to deal with real life professional situations. In these types of programs, PBL becomes a means by which many traditionally distinct disciplines can be studied and explored in an integrated manner by the learners in order to attempt to solve real or realistic problems [1] As in most cases, in any human activity, solving problems tends to be a process involving many individuals. They will either share the problem or individually have complimentary knowledge, skills or resources required to solve the problem. The same applies to learners involved in problem solving situations whether it is explicitly required or simply perceived as a means to insure success by all participants. PBL, by its very nature therefore invites collaboration and is almost always intended and used as a collaborative learning technique. With the potential for breaking down barriers between disciplines and fostering higher-level thinking and collaboration, PBL is being used very successfully in some pre-service teacher education programs [2]. This has then been noted to have some impact on changing attitudes within some groups in these programs, towards the representation of what learning is and what the role of the teacher should be. Although the trend for many in-service programs for teachers is to go online to better serve the larger community, PBL seems to be more difficult to implement as the context and the support is not generally conducive to such an endeavour. On the other hand, when PBL is used in class, in a face-to-face context, students will collaborate during whatever time is normally allotted. The available time is usually quite insufficient and the work will continue outside of class using whatever communications methods are available to them [3]. The Internet with its powerful communication and document sharing tools is already being used by many students to maintain the working as well as the social relationship outside the traditional academic setting. [4]. What this study attempts to look at is the formal implementation of PBL or at the very least, some form of a deeply rooted social-constructivist pedagogical approach into an online learning environment as a means to provide the tools for e- learning that would be closer in design, to the current thinking on the very nature of learning. More specifically, in this initial stage, a Collaborative Online Learning Environment (COLE) has been designed from this very specific perspective and a
prototype has been produced with the objective to explore the potential as well as the factors that could affect the formal use of such a strategy online. OBJECTIVE: DESIGNING THE COLE TO MEET BOTH PBL REQUIREMENTS AND HCHI REQUIREMENTS The COLE was designed with a clear intent to meet both the particular requirements of problem based learning as well as to meet the specific needs of the learners involved in a human-computer-human interaction (HCHI) situation. Before the process of constructing a computer based structure to implement PBL can be initiated, the central idea of problem needs to be defined in such a manner as to clearly identify it s elements and it s structure. Simple questions revolving around what constitutes a problem, or, how a problem is different from a task need to be addressed. The popular literature tends to define the concept of problem as a hurdle or an obstacle inhibiting the attainment of an objective. This implies that there would be an objective and that this objective is different to the current situation or context. Thus, a definition of problem would have to include the clear identification of the difference between a current situation and an objective. The greater the difference would mean the greater the problem. Although this difference represents the obstacle, there are other factors that would be implied such as the resources that could be instrumental in bridging the distance or overcoming the obstacle. Such resources could vary tremendously in nature. They could be, for example, physical, financial, or human. Probably the most important factor would be the knowledge base required to make use of all other resources for the purpose of solving the problem. A significant consideration here is that the relationship between these resources and the problem is an inverse one in the sense that the more relevant resources are present and accessible, the less important the problem becomes. Thus, in an attempt to formalize the identification of the elements of a problem and their relationships, the following equation is proposed: Problem = Objective " CurrentSituation Knowledge + resources With these elements identified, PBL can be articulated as a pedagogical approach designed to foster the development of certain competencies. Students operating in such a paradigm would learn to accurately assess the difference between a given current situation and an objective, or even to elaborate on such an objective. Once this has been defined, the learners are then prompted to construct, negotiate and apply the knowledge and resources necessary to overcome the difference thus reaching the objective. The concept of learning environment was first selected to reflect the notion that the learner would drive the process and the activities and therefore needed a space and the resources required to accomplish the tasks. To create this environment for an online context, the open-source Moodle platform was chosen to produce the prototype that would include a workspace for the learner as well as a specific set of tools or plug-ins carefully selected to not only facilitate the tasks but also to foster certain activities such as negotiation of meanings and coconstruction of knowledge. This also meant that many tools are specifically excluded, as they will either not foster collaboration or could promote a content-centred approach. With a computer based learning environment, the interface design has to take into account not only issues of functionalities but most importantly, the design has to address issues of HCHI. Using the simple model set out by Desjardins, Lacasse & Bélair [5] [6] four types of interactions can be identified allowing issues to be addressed and tools chosen for each. The first level of interaction is simply the usercomputer interaction. Here, the users have to be able to understand and use the available functions and tools with ease. This implies that the user-interface has to be very clear, simple to use and any navigation kept to a minimum. In a learner-driven situation, the interface cannot predict what the user will want to use and when, therefore these functions are to be accessible at all times. Further, in order to support the principles of a learnerdriven, process-centered approach, the greater part of the interface is dedicated to a workspace for the user. The functions are then displayed around the workspace, organized according to the three remain type of interaction: Interacting with others: This section called Communications includes computer-mediatedcommunication tools, both asynchronous and synchronous, such as a basic mail service, a text-based live chat and a peer-to-peer videoconferencing system allowing a maximum of four users per virtual meeting space. Some limitations are imposed to foster collaboration. For example, there is only one chat room for any given course in order to foster open communication amongst all members of the same cohort. Limiting the videoconferencing to four participants per meeting space is set to provide a forum
location where the students define these and this is also where this knowledge is negotiated. Since the Wiki is shared amongst all participants in a cohort, the language is collectively developed and understood. Although there are other tools available to generate and share texts in the environment, this one represents the principal negotiated repository of the collective knowledge. where small groups or teams collaborating on a specific task can hold meeting in as close to a face-to-face fashion as possible. It should be mentioned that the system that was chosen for this prototype is the open source OpenMeetings and that it does allow many such private meetings to occur simultaneously. This particular videoconferencing system also includes a shared whiteboard on which any of the participants can draw or write on much like on a white board in an office or classroom. The only limitation is that only the moderator can write, but anyone can take on this role, one at a time. Using information processing tools: This section offers the text editors, spreadsheets and concept mapping tools used by the students to help them in the process of generating new information. In the spirit of open source software, a link to OpenOffice is provided here for the students. Interacting with information: The resources in this section are selected and adapted to both facilitate access to information in general and most importantly to produce, share and co-construct information in a collaborative manner. For instance, this section contains the actual course outline or syllabus and this is also where instances of problems are found as video-cases. Each of these video-cases contains in turn, contextual information, video clips and general questions to initiate the reflection and discussions around the problem. As concepts and ideas emerge from the students, a Wiki becomes the central In addition to the three main sections mentioned, a Time Management section was added in order to provide the students with a means to organise their time as well as to coordinate the group work schedule. This is basically a calendar with agenda functionalities added. This also allows the facilitator to put in some deadlines or specific instances. The learners themselves can add or modify their personal work schedule. Figure 1 Sample screen capture of the COLE showing a partial discussion from the forum and an OpenMeeting videoconferencing window open.
METHODOLOGY Thirty-six student volunteers in two sections of a general science curriculum course were invited to participate in a pilot test of the COLE. The students were enrolled in a one-year post-degree professional program in education. The students worked within pairs in each section of the course and were physically separated from each other in adjacent rooms. The pilot tests were conducted in two subsequent periods of the course and constituted a total of approximately two hours of engagement with the environment over the course of the two periods. Prior to interacting within the environment the students were asked to produce two concept maps [7] illustrating their preconceived notions regarding argumentation on one map and online learning on the other. At the conclusion of the second session of collaborating in the environment, the pre-service teachers were asked to repeat the production of both concept maps to illustrate their changed understandings as a consequence of their experiences. The students used an electronic concept mapping application to produce all of the concept maps. In the intervening time between the two periods the students were asked to complete an online survey which asked a series of questions designed to measure attitudes towards online learning and to collect some basic demographic information such as age, gender, and experience with online environments. During the in-class use of the COLE, several pairs of pre-service teachers were video recorded as they were collaborating with their colleagues through the affordances provided in the environment. At the conclusion of the case study viewing a brief full-class debriefing session was held and video recorded for each of the course sections. Finally, a focus group of eight students was convened. The students in the focus group were asked to participate in a discussion devised to identify a series of constructs and elements related to the construction and use of online environments. The constructs and the elements were used by the students to produce independent repertory grids [8] [9]. The focus group session was video recorded and subsequently transcribed. The multiple data collection techniques were used in order to triangulate the data. Analysis of the data is being carried out with a variety of methodologies. The concept maps drawn by the students were compared to each other primarily to determine what, if any, effects the interaction with and within the COLE environment had on student understanding of argumentation and online learning. The video recordings were analyzed for specific examples of COLE affordance employment. Naturalistic methodologies [10] were used as patterns regarding online environment usage were expected to emerge from the data. Codes, categories and themes for a content analysis were negotiated among the members of the case study team [11] through a series of extended discussion sessions FINDINGS: In this very initial exploration of the first version of the prototype, even in such an early stage of prototypical development, many indicators were noted. However since the analysis of all data streams is incomplete at the time of this writing, the findings reported here come from an analysis of the debriefing session video and the two concept maps completed by the students. Debriefing session video extracts Extract 1 S1: Same exact experience online as in the classroom? S2: But if you integrate the chat and the forum you can match the experience. I can talk to R... whether its here or whether I m on a computer and he s on a computer. S3: It s never going to be identical. It s just like two classes, it s like your class and ours. The dynamics are going to be different with everything but you can try to get them as close to the same experience as possible. You need to give them the same knowledge and as close to the same experience as possible. The former set of quotations identities that the multimedia communications package is important. Although these subjects recognize that there are some limitations, synchronous communications are critical to the concept of collaboration. In this particular extract, remnants of the traditional representation of teaching and learning remain, thus illustrating clearly the basic difficulties to be overcome. Extract 2 S4: If you construct it and you on the other end won t necessarily construct the same one right. You are actually able to show me by constructing that question that you have taken the knowledge and everything that we have done over the course and you are able to apply it. S3: Not necessarily. I think you are making an assumption. If I have to come up with construct a calculus question I can tell you
right now, honestly it will be the simplest question you could ever have. It will be page one of the textbook. Here you go. S4: How is that any different from asking in science to construct a question and solve an independent investigation? How is that any different where you find a similar mathematical situation where you ask the question and you are actually helping drive your own learning through the same situation? How is that any different? Why separate the ideas of math from science? In the light of their experiences of negotiating meanings and collaborating to construct definitions, when considering the problem of assessment, the subjects are faced with the dilemma of assessing this collaboratively constructed knowledge with old individualistic paradigms thus showing evidence that their concept of knowledge is challenged. CONCEPTUAL CHANGES AS DISPLAYED IN PRE- AND POST-CONCEPT MAPS In the concept maps produced by the participants before and after the experimental use of the COLE, frustration with some technical issues that were experienced is obvious. The technology itself seems not to have raised any additional concerns in the posttest. On the subject of the social communication within online contexts, the post-test concept maps show a very slight increase in the number of subjects adding comments relating to communication and collaboration, despite the technical difficulties that occurred during the trials. A slight increase in the number of references to types of resources available as well as the depth of descriptions around the functions available were found in the post-test concept maps. One interesting note is the new mention of knowledge in the post-test as opposed to the strict concept of information presented in the pre-test. Finally, the concept and use of the Wiki was mentioned only in the post-test concept maps thus showing some evidence of some increased awareness as to this tool s potential. CONCLUSION The prototype of this COLE was constructed in a relatively short time using the Moodle platform and many open source plugins were used. The central idea was to attempt to produce an online learning environment that would actually be solidly based in learner-driven process-centered paradigm with a clearly social-constructivist perspective. The prototype, presently used in trials, has been shown to offer good potential to support a problem based learning approach as users, in a very short time, have shown some awareness of difference and of change. What remains to be examined, thus outstanding as the principal focus of this research, is the question: Can the use of PBL set in a Collaborative Online Learning Environment, deeply rooted in a socialconstructivist perspective, have any effect on teacher s individual representation of learning and maybe pedagogy? REFERENCES: [1] McPhee, A. (2002). Problem-based learning in initial teacher education: taking the agenda forward» Journal of Educational Enquiry, Vol. 3, No. 1, p 60-78 [2] Desjardins, F., (2000), «Exploiter les TIC comme extensions de l'intellect dans une approche constructiviste» in M. Théberge, Former à la profession enseignante, Montréal : Éditions Logiques, pp 133 162 [3] Donnelly, R. (2004). Online learning in teacher education: Enhanced with a problem-based learning approach. AACE Journal, 12(2), 236-247. [4] Geelan, D. & Taylor, P. (2001). Embodying our values in our teaching practices: Building open and critical disclosure through computer mediated communication. Journal of Interactive Learning Research, 12(4), 375-401. [5] Desjardins, F. J., Lacasse, R., & Bélair, L. M., (2001) «Toward a definition of four orders of competency for the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in education» Computers and advanced technology in education: Proceeedings of the Fourth IASTED International Conference, Calgary : ACTA Press, pp. 213-217. [6] Desjardins, F.J., (2005) «La représentation par les enseignants, quant à leurs profils de compétences relatives à l ordinateur : vers une théorie des TIC en éducation», La revue canadienne de l apprentissage et de la technologie, 31 (1) 27-49. [7] Slotte, V. & Lonka, K. (1999). Spontaneous concept maps aiding the understanding of scientific concepts. International Journal of Science Education, 21 (5), 515-531. [8] Feixas, G. & Alvarez, J.M.C. (2000). A manual for the repertory grid. Retrieved June 1,2003, from http://www.terapiacognitiva.net/record/pag/contents.h tm. [9] Gaines, B.R. & Shaw, M.L.G. (2003, March 30). Repertory Grids: WebGrid III. Retrieved April 5, 2003 from http://gigi.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/webgrid/
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