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Permalink Reply by Jason Ellingson on March 5, 2012 at 3:17pm

I think our student learning goals support "problem finders" as well as "problem solvers" because framing the problem is a key component to solving it.

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Permalink Reply by Sandra Dop on March 5, 2012 at 3:44pm

Good to hear, Jason. I guess we just need to be more purposeful about these skills that are becoming increasingly important as we progress into the 21st.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Ellingson on March 5, 2012 at 3:58pm

We definitely need to be more purposeful.  I proposed once that content area curriculum should ONLY be used to support the universal constructs.  Granted, I was playing the devil's advocate, but people took a cold stance against me.  Honestly, the universal constructs allow us to build meaningful learning experiences that will be remembered beyond a day.

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Permalink Reply by Kari Webb on March 6, 2012 at 10:17am

Sandra,

Thanks for recommending this blog post!  McIntosh does an excellent job of framing the true goal of PBL--which is often lost:  the "driving question" must be crafted by the teacher to launch students toward a position of investigation and inquiry.  It is here that the student's "need to know" transitions from the typical "I need to finish this worksheet" into a metamorphically different "I must become a part of a meaningful dialogue around this real-world challenge".

We need to grow students who challenge the status quo---but there is a catch!  True innovation will begin with the foundational work of previous generations of scientists, philosophers, artists, musicians and engineers-- and then takes that work into a new dimension.  As McIntosh points out in his blog, the creative genius lies in an ability to see the current reality, and then to find the unsolved "problems" or perhaps better "the unanswered questions" of that reality.

I also agree with Ellingson that the Universal Constructs are the end goal of all of our content area curriculum.  Great art begins with foundational skill sets.  Creative engineers must still work within a solid understanding of thermodynamics.  The literary genius moves past simple grammar and mechanics--but never abandons them.  The Nobel Prize biologist doesn't neglect or ignore the work of her predecessors but expands upon it.

So, in the end...what?  

We write curriculum and frame competencies that open doors and build bridges between what was, what is and what will be in humankind's Great Conversation. 

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