Poster #13 - "I Have Never Had a PBL Like This": Teacher Identity and Co-Designing Empowering Problem-Based Learning Experiences

• In Event: 75.043 - MTCC Poster Session 17
  In Poster Session: 75.043-4 - Empowerment of Problem-Based Learning

Abstract

As teachers design and implement problem-based learning (PBL) experiences, they navigate the complex work of constructing themselves as PBL facilitators. In the effort to design PBL experiences that empower learners to create change, the role of the facilitator cannot be ignored. This paper explores the discursive construction of teacher identity in one afterschool middle school robotics curriculum. Here, students designed and built a robot to keep them safe during school “lockdown” procedures. This case study examines one instructor’s view of herself as PBL facilitator—highlighting her orientation to questioning, student agency, and the creation of space for socially relevant problems to emerge. This study works to inform the ongoing development of transformative PBL curricula and co-design experiences.

Authors

• Andrea Sarah Gomoll, Indiana University - Bloomington

• Cindy E. Hmelo-Silver, Indiana University

• Selma Sabanovic, Indiana University

• Pei-Jung Li, Indiana University - Bloomington