Problem-Based Learning in K-8 Classrooms: A Teacher?s Guide to Implementation

"Using Problem-Based Learning has changed the way I teach completely. My children now learn more, do more, and have much more fun in the process. I have more fun in the process too and, once again, can enjoy the things that attracted me to teaching in the first place. I recommend that every K-8 teacher pick up this book and use it not just for what PBL can do for students, but what it does for teachers!"
Elizabeth Durling, 20-year elementary school teacher
Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is the powerful, value-added teaching and learning style that hundreds of schools across the country have successfully implemented in their classrooms. By highlighting core concepts, practical applications, and sample PBL exercises in an easy-to-follow format, this comprehensive quick-reference manual empowers educators with the knowledge and strategies necessary to cultivate engaged, proactive students, while alleviating overburdened teachers.

The text vividly illustrates how PBL can enliven curriculum and lesson-planning by encouraging students to play a more central role in their own learning process. It provides a straightforward framework for efficiently and effectively teaching problem-solving skills, tapping children′s interests and previous knowledge, and making the curriculum relevant to students′ worlds of meaning.

Special features include:

• Comprehensive definition of PBL and its benefits
• PBL planning matrixes and sample PBL instructional materials for easy integration into the classroom
• Real-life success stories of teachers using PBL techniques
• Detailed PBL problem scenarios specific to each grade level, with examples of how student groups worked together to solve them

Ann Lambros is Director of the Center of Excellence for Research, Teaching, and Learning at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine. She is a consultant to K-12 schools and an expert at the creation and implementation of problem-based learning programs.