Problems in K-12th grade education

Plucker, Jonathan, and Jeffrey Nowak. "How to use Problem-Based Learning in the Classroom / Problems as Possibilities: Problem-Based Learning for K-12 Education." Roeper Review 22.1 (1999): 69-72

Delisle, in how to Use Problem-based Learning in the Classroom, includes three different types of chapters: a description and rationale for the use of PBL, several how-to chapters, and five examples of PBL implemented at various grade levels. In Problems as Possibilities: Problem-Based Learning for K-12 Education. In line with recent recommendations, both books recommend that the problem be ill-structured and complex, which requires students to search beyond the readily available information to solve the problem. Delisle provides several helpful tables that teachers can use during the problem generation and other phases of PBL, while Torp and Sage provide fewer charts of this type.

The books take different perspectives on the role of the teacher. Delisle suggests three interrelated roles: teacher as curriculum designer, teacher as guide, and teacher as evaluator. Torp and Sage describe an evolving role for the PBL teacher, beginning with the presentation of problem-solving heuristics, moving into a role of a cognitive coach or metacognitive guide, and ending with the teacher as coaching "from the sidelines as students move toward ... problem resolution" (p. 65). Both perspectives are valuable, with a compromise position being that the teacher always performs Delisle's multiple roles, but that the nature of the roles develops from the more didactic to the more supportive as students gain experience with PBL.

The authors of both books provide additional description of the teacher's role, with an emphasis on the anticipation and incorporation of direct instruction and assessment at critical points in the problem investigation. Both books also present the material clearly and with little extraneous jargon.

Kuiper, E., Volman, M., & Terwel, J. The web as an information resource in K-12 education: Strategies for supporting students in searching and processing information. Review of Educational Research, 75(3) (2005): 285-328.

The use of the Web in K-12 education has increased substantially in recent years. The Web, however, does not support the learning processes of students as a matter of course. In this review, the authors analyze what research says about the demands that the use of the Web as an information resource in education makes on the support and supervision of students' learning processes. They discuss empirical research focusing on the limitations of the actual search strategies of children, as well as theoretical literature that analyzes specific characteristics of the Web and their implications for the organization of education. The authors conclude that students need support in searching on the Web as well as in developing "information literacy." Future research should focus on how the use of the Web in education can contribute to the development of deep and meaningful knowledge.

The Web is increasingly used as an information resource in K-12 education. More and more schools are connected to the Internet, and in many countries governments stimulate the use of the Internet in education. American statistics on Internet use in education ...