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Problem-Based Learning

Engaging Students in Wrestling with Authentic Issues
and Challenges from the Community

Measuring Up to the Challenge
Module Four - The Snake River - Learning by Doing
An example of PBL designed for teachers to learn the process by participating in a three day investigation.
Which question below would best form the basis for an entire unit of study?

Paste the list into your word processor and move them around so that the most promising PBL questions rise to the top.

  1. What should we know about the Snake River?
  2. What are the greatest problems facing the Snake River?
  3. What are the most significant threats facing the inhabitants of the Snake River territory?
  4. What can we do about the Snake River?
  5. What should we do with the Snake River?
  6. What should we do about the Snake River salmon?
  7. What should we do about the Snake River dams?
  8. What will be done about the Snake River?
The value of a research project is enhanced by pushing beyond the mere gathering of information. We hope to require higher level thinking and fresh thinking. We look for more than cut-and-paste research. We try to move past topical research to problem solving or decision making.

Next module. Please do not proceed until asked to do so by the workshop leader.

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