conceptual framework for an urban pbl
TRANSCRIPT
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR
AN URBAN PBLBy
José-Miguel Fernández-GüellIsabel González
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) October 5th, 2016
Lima Citylab Workshop, October 5-7th, 2016
Introduction to PBL
Problem-based learning (PBL) is a student-centred pedagogy in which students learn about a subject through the
experience of solving an open-ended problem.
The goals of PBL are to help students develop flexible knowledge, effective problem solving skills, self-directed
learning, effective collaboration skills and intrinsic motivation.
PBL is a style of active learning.
Through the process of solving a problem, students get appropriation of the problem, seek for information, collect data, share knowledge, develop arguments and critical
positions about theories.
Purpose of PBL
PBL helps students to:
• Construct an extensive and flexible knowledge base
• Develop effective problem solving skills
• Develop self-directed, lifelong learning skills
• Reinforce interpersonal skills and teamwork
• Become effective collaborators
• Become intrinsically motivated to learn
• .....
Benefits of PBL
Academic literature identifies several criticisms to PBL:
• Students show initial resistance to self-directed learning
• PBL is less effective with early students
• PBL is time consuming for students and professors
• Preparing PBL courses implies heavy work-load
• Implementing PBL requires a lot of resources, planning and organization
• Well-trained facilitators are critical to the success of PBL
• It is difficult to carry out individual evaluations
• .....
Criticisms to PBL
Applying PBL to solving urban problems presents several challenges:
• High complexity of urban issues that require multiple experts (architects, planners, engineers, sociologists, economists, etc.)
• Ample diversity of local stakeholders
• Continuous change of urban processes
• Variety of urban scales
• Existence of numerous alternative solutions
• PBL could be easily applied in “Studio Teaching” courses, but not so easy on the rest of the academic curriculum (?)
• .....
Challenges of PBL in the urban context
• Preserve students initiative along the whole process
• Choose complex urban problems that demand multidisciplinary collaboration
• Promote collaborative planning with local stakeholders by involving local politicians and planning officials
• Stimulate international cooperation among EU & LA cases
• Incorporate new technologies and tools in the process
Citylab PBL requirements
Conceptual framework
Basic elements of a conceptual framework
Problemdefinition
Courseassessment
Stakeholders involvement
Students involvement
Professors involvement
The urban environment is not only operational complex and social diverse, but it is also structured in various scales:
• Small urban scale usually covers a limited number of city elements as the ones encountered around public spaces,
such as squares, or in a building block
• Intermediate urban scale covers a sizeable portion of a city such as residential neighbourhoods or commercial districts
• Large urban scale usually covers a whole city, including peri-urban areas
Urban scales
Intermediate urban scale
Adapting the framework to an intermediate scale project
Problemdefinition
Courseassessment
Stakeholders involvementMunicipal elected politicians, municipal planners, businesses, citizens associations, ...
Students involvement
Professors involvementSpecialists, facilitators, providers of analytical tools & data, teaching facilities, ...
Analysis
DIAGNOSIS
Plan Implementation
PROPOSAL
IMPLEMENT
PLAN
Data collection
Data analysis
Urban area description
Alternativescenarios
Strategies
Desired plan
Implementationactions
Implementationactors
Economicprogramme
Activating stakeholders & professors in an intermediate scale
Problemdefinition
Courseassessment
Stakeholders involvement
Students involvement
Professorsinvolvement
Analysis
DIAGNOSIS
Plan Implementation
PROPOSAL
Data collection
Data analysis
Urban area description
Alternativescenarios
Strategies
Desired plan
Implementationactions
Implementationactors
Economicprogramme
Tutorials, tools & sources
Tutorials, tools & sources
Tutorials, tools & sources
Workshop Workshop WorkshopInterviews InterviewsInterviews
IMPLEMENT
PLAN
Workshop&
EvaluationFinal
EvaluationWorkshop
&Evaluation
Workshop&
Evaluation
Small urban scale
Problemdefinition
Courseassessment
Students involvement
Analysis
TARG
ET D
EFIN
ITIN
ON
/ PRI
ORI
TY A
CTIO
NS Design Development
DEC
ISIO
N-M
AKI
NG
/ FIN
AL
PRO
POSA
L
Data collection
Data analysis
Urban spacedescription
Evaluation of proposals
Desired design
Technical definition
PUBL
IC E
XHIB
ITIO
N P
ROJE
CT
Needs assessment
Design alternatives
Economic budget
Adapting the framework to a small scale project
Stakeholders involvementDistrict elected politician, municipal manager, shop owners, neighbours, users, ...
Professors involvementSpecialists, facilitators, providers of analytical tools & data, teaching facilities, ...
Executionprogramme
Problemdefinition
Courseassessment
Students involvement
Professorsinvolvement
Analysis
TARG
ET D
EFIN
ITIN
ON
/ PRI
ORI
TY A
CTIO
NS Design Development
DEC
ISIO
N-M
AKI
NG
/ FIN
AL
PRO
POSA
L
Data collection
Data analysis
Urban spacedescription
Evaluation of proposals
Desired design
Tutorials, tools & sources
Tutorials, tools & sources
Tutorials, tools & sources
Workshop&
Evaluation
PUBL
IC E
XHIB
ITIO
N P
ROJE
CT
Needs assessment
Stakeholders involvement Workshop Workshop WorkshopInterviews InterviewsInterviews
Workshop&
EvaluationWorkshop
&Evaluation
FinalEvaluation
Activating stakeholders & professors in a small scale
Design alternatives
Technical definition
Economic budget
Executionprogramme
Concluding remarks
Each course module should:
• Design a preliminary framework for its specific module
• Display the final framework generated during the course
• Determine the gaps between preliminary and final framework
• Assess critically the pros and cons of the PBL process using the framework
• Recommend improvements for future courses using the framework
Instructions for applying the framework
A conceptual framework may be useful for:• Mapping the different actors and operations involved in applying
PBL to the urban context
• Identifying links among actors and operations
• Displaying a schematic guidelines for facilitators
• Spotting critical steps in the learning process
• Assessing the weaknesses and strengths of PBL courses
• Structuring Citylab’s outcomes for future publications
• Differentiating PBL implementation in diverse urban scales
• Comparing a large and diverse set of PBL modules with the same framework
• .....
Usefulness of a conceptual framework
The application of this conceptual framework to Citylabcourses should be crossed with the assessment tool:
• Have participants enjoyed learning more with PBL than with traditional teaching methods?
• Have students felt being treated as mature professionals?
• Have they improved their interpersonal skills?
• Have they improved their analytical competences?
• Have they learnt to prioritize time and resources?
• Have they learnt team working and task sharing?
• ......
Crossing the framework with an assessment tool
Thanks for your attention
José-Miguel Fernández-Güell ([email protected])
Isabel González ([email protected])