Problem Based Learning Is Effective Teaching Style Dr. Larry Cogburn, standing left, and a problem-based learning team take an elec trocardiogram of a calf as part of a problem-based learning laboratory in a compara tive physiology course. The students, clockwise from left, are LeAnne Highsmith, Robert Rohrer, Gregory Greene, Kim Gagliardi, Cherilyn Gaskill and Christina Roller!. YOUR POST FRAME BUILDING HEADQUARTBIS Wickes Lumber is the place to turn for all your packaged building needs, We offer a wide selection of sizes and styles of buildings, perfect for a variety of needs. We also carry a complete assort ment of steel for siding and roofing, quality lumber, treated posts, heavy-duty hardware and all the extras. Add delivery and credit plus attentive, knowledgeable Skyli Match!) Available P W Wickes Lumber Allentown, PA Ephrata, PA Exton, PA 631 State Road 82 Garden Spot Rd. 145 S Whitford Rd (215)967-3181 (717)733-6521 (215)363-9550 Harrisburg, PA Phillipsburg, NJ Reading, PA 451 Amp-Wick Dr. 199 Strykers Rd. 2591 Centre Ave. (717)564-4453 (908)859-3600 (215)921-0606 J&, B/BtYTHHB YOU'LL HIEEDI 2x4 Coi MV 9 ' * salespeople and you’ve got it all! Computer Aided Customizing! Any of our package designs can be tailored to suit your needs with our Computer Aided Design capabilities. Ask a Wickes Lumber associate for details! Frederick, MD Greensburg. PA 5219 Urbana Pike Route 136 (301)662-4107 (412)527-3531 Succasunna NJ Swodesboro, NJ 39 Route 10 (201)584-6630 (609)467-0846 I ivy-Duty ling Door racks & irdware Rt. 322 CLAIRE MCCABE University of Delaware NEWARK, Del. When you get a group of students working together on a practical problem, some amazing learning can take place. That’s what two professors at the University of Delaware have discovered. Dr. Calvin Keel er and Dr. Larry Cogburn, both in the department of animal science and agricultural biochemistry, took a course from the universi ty’s Center for Teaching Effec tiveness on problem-based learn ing. They then applied the meth ods to their classes. “Problem-based learning was developed at medical and veteri nary schools,” Keeler says. “The idea is that if students are given a practical problem and have to fig ure it out themselves, they are much more apt to retain what they learn.” Keeler is using problem-based learning in his course on princi ples of molecular genetics, designed for seniors and first year graduate students. He acknowledges that it’s more work for the teacher. “You can’t just grind out facts,” he says. “The structure of DNA is not easy for students to leam. So I had to think about giv ing them a problem that makes them figure out the structure of DNA—for example, how a muta gen affects DNA. By figuring out what happens to the DNA, they have also figured out the DNA structure.” Cogbum uses a problem-based approach in the laboratory section of his undergraduate comparative physiology course. Each week, the students are given a practical problem with a domestic animal. For example, one laboratory a i I Brooming chutel Powder 9 • For safe and easy grooming, washing and clipping g 9 cattle I 9 * Expanded metal floor stays cleaner and gives 1 Kl more traction |9 rf * Assembles and disassembles quick and easy M g • Can easily be moved and loaded by one person | 6. zmtMttH INC. | a Maw 295 Woodconwr FW. g 9 ' Lttttz, PA 17543 I I i Mi*w««f mm» E g wit 710 it 717<73£7568 . 6 ■si ?2iaaamiiß. TEimaeiaiß. P Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 21, 1995-BS requires students to take and com pare electrocardiograms of sever al types of animals. The class is divided into six person teams in which each indi vidual plays a distinct role: leader, recorder, lab reporter,I*accuracy 1 *accuracy coach, encourager and researcher. These roles are rotated with each project. “The problem-based labs make students work together.” Cogburn notes. “Everyone has different skills. And all can contribute and achieve. In a sense, the students are motivated to work by peer pressure. They try to excel. “They learn effective commu nication skills, interpersonal rela tions and how to work as a team,” he adds. Cogburn says the work is both practical and applied. As students discuss the problems, just as they would in a private laboratory or practice, they learn that no one can perform all the tasks and everybody has something differ ent to offer. “I find that the students are more motivated; they learn to work in a group and appreciate the different skills of others,” Cogburn says. “And they learn responsibility.” Cogburn just completed his third year using the problem based learning method. It has proven to be effective for his pur poses. Keeler, having completed one semester of problem-based learning, says he’ll do it again. “Problem-based learning is more work, and it’s tough for the students too,” Keeler says. “It can be intimidating. Students can’t just sit there and listen —they have to participate. But it’s worth it if they learn and retain more.”
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