Problem Based Learning Part 1

I am somewhat familiar with problem-based learning from earlier math education classes, and was involved in a few of them. I remember getting a problem and a back bone of instructions and structure and told to find a solution. At first it was a little overwhelming but as my group and I started to brainstorm we really got into it and almost a little competitive to make our solution better than the others. It was a lot of team work but also some individual work. This is what I walked away from the activity realizing and I am glad to see through reading some of the materials on Problem-based learning that I got the right information from that activity. We talked in class yesterday about challenging your students and letting them struggle a little bit so that they can problem solve and become confident in their abilities to do so. Through these real-life problems there is brainstorming, sketching, crumbling up and throwing away ideas, setbacks and achievements with group and their individual work. They learn to use outside resources, teachers, community, classmates etc. Teachers are involved, but minimally. They are there for support, facilitating and debriefing. One of the documents I looked at, broke down the process and definition of problem-based learning in a very clear, direct and structured way. That document was great for someone who wants to start incorporating problem-based learning to their classroom effectively.