Program Overview
Institution Type:
Private
Degree Type:
ISCED 4: Post-secondary non-tertiary education
Program Length:
Four Years
Semesters in which PBL is Used:
1-8
Hours per week on Project:
11-15
Wake Forest University
0
55
Winston Salem, North Carolina, USA
http://college.wfu.edu/engineering/
Olga Pierrakos
Founding Chair & Professor
How would you describe your PBL?
problem and project based
What is most important to your PBL?
Product and Process
How is PBL implemented?
central to all learning
How do students acquire principles of discipline?
Students acquire disciplinary knowledge from diverse constituents and using diverse mechanisms. Examples of diverse constituents include faculty, staff, peer students, external community partners, clients, professional experts in practice, interdisciplinary scholars, industry representatives, etc. Examples of the diverse mechanisms that students gain disciplinary knowledge include lectures, demonstrations, laboratory procedures, case studies, reflection, independent research, problem-driven experiences.
How is student learning facilitated within PBL?
Instructors support PBL student learning in diverse ways. Sometimes it is by coaching, sometimes by modeling and demonstrating how PBL should be approached, sometimes by facilitating conversations and next steps.
PBL Overview
Problem structure:
Formulation of problems:
Problems are formulated and informed by/from faculty, students, external clients, and professional practice
Team composition selection:
Academic staff with student input
Projects assigned by:
Academic staff with student input
How is space dedicated to student teams for problem/project completion?
Space that can be reserved/shared by teams
Degree of Interdisciplinarity:
Low
Role of instructor:
Non-expert
Unique Features
adaptive PBL (varying structuredness, varying complexity, varying team composition vs individual, etc)
Varying PBL experiences (i.e. research projects, design projects, community engagement) to develop adaptive experts
Grounding in a liberal arts education
Supporting cognitive and non-cognitive growth and development
Sometimes driven by theory, sometimes driven by practice
Assessment Methods
Written Exams
Oral Exams
Classroom Presentations
Exhibition/Demonstration
Performance Tasks
Portfolio
Self-assessment
Peer-assessment
Essays/Reflections
How assessment is implemented :
Mixture of individual and group assessment
Publications
Considering that WFU's Engineering Department is new, the following list of publications reflect the prior work of members of our team. Such works have informed and are laying the foundation for the development of the WFU PBL model.
Pierrakos O., (2017), “Changing the Culture in a Senior Design Course to Focus on Grit, Mastery Orientation, Belonging, and Self-Efficacy: Building Strong Academic Mindsets and Psychological Preparedness,” International Journal of Engineering Edu
Pierrakos O., Nagel Robert, Pappas Eric, Nagel Jacquelyn, Moran Thomas, Barrella Elise, Panizo Mariafe*, Fall 2013, “A Mixed-Methods Study of Cognitive and Affective Learning During a Sophomore Design Problem-based Service Learning Experience,” I
Pierrakos O., A. Zilberberg, R. Anderson, Fall 2010, “Understanding Undergraduate Research Experiences through the Lens of Problem-based Learning: Implications for Curriculum Translation,” The Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning,
Pierrakos O., Robert Nagel, Heather Watson, Kyle Gipson, Elise Barrella, Eric Pappas, Robin Anderson, John Karabelas, Islam El-Adaway, Saami Yazdani, and Ron Kander, Feb. 2013, “All Problems Are Not Created Equal: Intentional Design of Learning Exp
Pierrakos O., Watson H., Kander R., Anderson R., Russell J. *, October 2010, “Special Session - Not All Problems Are Created Equal: From Problem-based Learning Theory to Research on Complex Problem Solving and Implications for the Engineering Clas
Pierrakos O. and Pappas E., June 2010, “Special Session: Assessing Students’ Learning Outcomes during a Complex and Real-world Problem-based Service Learning (PBSL) Project in a Sophomore Engineering Design Course,” ASEE Annual Conference & Exp
Russell J., Pierrakos O., France M., Kander R., Anderson A., Watson H., June 2010, “Incorporating Problem Based Learning (PBL) in a Freshman Engineering Course: Methods for Classifying and Assessing PBL Projects,” ASEE Annual Conference & Exposit
Pierrakos O., Barrella E., Stoup K., (2015), “On the Impacts of Panel-based Technical Design Reviews: From Implementation to Mixed-Methods Evidence,” International Journal of Engineering Education, Capstone Design, Special Issue: Capstone Design