This document outlines a study examining the use of problem-based learning (PBL) and Web 2.0 tools to support student collaboration in a 6th grade science classroom. It discusses how PBL has been used at secondary and college levels but not as much in elementary and middle schools due to lack of scaffolding. The study aims to see if Web 2.0 tools can provide scaffolding to support student collaboration during a PBL science unit to address standards focusing on scientific processes and inquiry.

1. Problem-based
learning
ed 675
Michelle Greer

2. Vocabulary
• Inquiry
• Problem-based Learning (PBL)
• Web 2.0
• Scaffolding (hard and soft)

3. Purpose
• The purpose of this investigation is to examine a
sixth grade science classroom at Clark Middle
School, in Anchorage, Alaska, during a Problem-
based Learning unit and more specifically, student
collaboration using Web 2.0 tools. This study
focuses on whether Problem-based Learning is
beneficial at the middle school level and
determines whether Web 2.0 tools can be used as a
method of scaffolding for collaboration among
students.

4. Problem
• Problem-based Learning (PBL) has been widely
incorporated at the secondary and college level but
is not being used as a method of instruction in the
elementary and middle school levels.
• Need for inquiry can be met with PBL but has not
be used at middle level due to lack of scaffolding
for student collaboration.

5. Standards
Table 1. The Alaska State Content Standards for Science A
A student who meets the content standard should:
1) Develop an understanding of the processes of science used to investigate problems,
design and conduct repeatable scientific investigations, and defend scientific arguments;
2) Develop an understanding that the processes of science require integrity, logical
reasoning, skepticism, openness, communication, and peer review; and
3) Develop an understanding
that culture, local knowledge, history, and interaction with the environment contribute to
the development of scientific knowledge, and local applications provide opportunity for
understanding scientific concepts and global issues.

6. Inquiry

7. Issues with Standards
• With the increased pressure from the No Child Left Behind Act
(2001), instructors and students are repeatedly expected to
perform on standardized exams across the nation
• “To accomplish the task of teaching students to be integral parts
of society we need to teach them to think and investigate the
world around them” (Falk and Darling-Hammond, 2010).
• High school students using Problem-based Learning in their
science classes scored higher than their peers on 44% of the items
on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
science test given to them in 12th-grade (Schneider, Krajcik,
Marx, & Soloway, 2002).

8. Constructivism
• “A constructivist mode of teaching incorporates either students’
prior knowledge and experiences or a class’ shared experience
allowing the student to build scientific concepts upon that
foundation” (Ashcraft, 2006)
• “Students today learn more effectively in pedagogical practices
that emphasize holistic thinking, active learning, visual media and
problem-solving “ (Lee and Breitenberg, 2010).
• “From a very early age, children interact with their environment,
ask questions, and seek ways to answer those questions.” (NSTA
2004)

9. PBL
Table 2. Project-based Learning Can Enable Students
1) To construct an extensive and flexible knowledge base
2) To develop effective problem-solving skills
3) To develop self-directed, lifelong learning skills
4) To become effective collaborators
5) To become intrinsically motivated to learn

10. Collaboration
• Scaffolding in PBL “support collaborative knowledge
construction, and can change how students interact with each
other through transformation of the process and students’
articulation of thoughts” (Bell, 2010)
• Belland (2009) found that using hard scaffolds helped middle
school students when deciding whether an argument was good or
bad.
• Clark and Sampson (2007) also found that hard scaffolding is
helpful when teaching students how to problem solve.

11. Web 2.0
• Web 2.0 technology such as blogs, wikis, Google
applications, and podcasts are known as social software
because they allow users to collaborate while designing
content that is open to the public (Chao, 2007)
• The first wiki was created in 1994 for making the exchange
of ideas between programmers easier (Chao, 2007).
• Ching, Carter and Yasmin concluded from their study on
fourth and fifth grade students (n=63) benefited from
collaboration during inquiry using technology for 10 weeks.

12. Conclusion
• There is a need for Inquiry
• There are standards for Inquiry
• Inquiry is not being met, but could with
PBL.
• Further research (aka mine) should be
done to examine if hard scaffolds can
aid in student collaboration during