THE USE OF PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING FOR TEACHING GOVERNMENT RELATIONS

One of the primary features of Problem-Based Learning is that it is student-centered.  Student-centered refers to learning opportunities that are relevant to the students, the goals of which are at least partly determined by the students themselves. This does not mean that the teacher abdicates his authority for making judgments regarding what might be important for students to learn; rather, this feature places partial and explicit responsibility on the students shoulders for their own learning. Creating assignments and activities that require student input presumably also increases the likelihood of students being motivated to learn.  

The context for learning in PBL is highly context-specific.  It serves to teach content by presenting the students with a real-world challenge similar to one they might encounter were they a GR practitioner.  Teaching content through skills is one of the primary distinguishing features of PBL.  PBL is inductive: students learn the content as they try to address a problem.  

The problems in PBL are typically in the form of cases, narratives of complex, real-world challenges common to the GR discipline. There is no right or wrong answer; rather, there are reasonable solutions based on application of knowledge and skills deemed necessary to address the issue.  The solution therefore is partly dependent on the acquisition and comprehension of facts, but also based on the ability to think critically. Critical thinking refers to the ability to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information, as well as to apply that information appropriate to a given context. It is both critical and creative in that synthesis, in particular, requires the learner to take what information is known, reassemble it with information not known, and to derive a new body of knowledge. Students are not asked to create new knowledge but to create something that is at least new to them.   

The instructor is not passive during student learning, but neither does he take the traditional role of sage on the stage. The instructor’s role can be to model different kinds of problem-solving strategies, sometimes referred to as cognitive apprenticeship learning.  Students also can model for one another a variety of problem-solving strategies. The most common instructor role is to question the students about their learning process by asking meta-cognitive questions: How do you know that? What assumptions might you be making? These questions are meant to get students to become self-reflective about their learning processes, thus another primary feature of PBL is that it is process-centered more so than product-centered. This may seem contradictory as solving the problem is an important and critical aspect of PBL hence its name. The point to be taken here, however, is that while content changes (especially in a rapidly changing technological world), the ability to problem-solve needs to be more portable. No one set of skills will suffice for all time, either; but the ability to generate problem-solving strategies is the skill with legs. Information transferability is limited by the information available; how to find and create information is limited only by the learner’s willingness to participate.  PBL, by having students demonstrate for themselves their capabilities, can increase students motivation to tackle problems.  

Problem-based learning is also experiential in that participants experience what it is like to think as a practitioner.  How does a GR professional think?  What distinguishes the way a GR professional might address a problem as opposed to the way a PR professional might?  How might these two specialists work together on a problem, a question more germane as disciplines become ever more inter-disciplinary? It is also a question of great concern to employers. Three major complaints from employers about graduates are graduates poor written and verbal skills, their inability to problem-solve, and their difficulties working collaboratively with other professionals.  PBL can address all three areas. 

Conclusion

PBL demands a greater involvement on the part of the student, who takes an active part in the creation and interpretation of knowledge rather than passively receiving it. Students must learn facts and remember them, while processing information and manipulating it on a deeper level. Furthermore, such learning is not dependent on the tutor: it can be independent, or collaborative with other students.The teacher's role is also altered: s/he acts as a facilitator of learning rather than a provider of knowledge, prompting discussion with questions, clarifying issues in which there is confusion and directing students to potential solutions.