There 2 PBL (problem Based Learning) initiatives (UBS Investment Banking Challenge , CPA Big Break ) which really get on my goat, not because they are bad ideas, or badly implemented, or badly promoted, or badly thought of by the Faculty hierarchy or students – no, my problem is they are external.
We love it when our students do well (and they do very well) and while we encourage our student’s to participate we don’t take the next step and draw a link between this fantastic learning opportunity and our own teaching practice.
The obvious questions that should arise from these initiatives are:
“The student’s love this and it really pushes them – why can’t I do something like this in my unit? ”
or
“This project covers a big chunk of my curriculum why don’t I use it as the back bone of my unit?”
I think a useful first step would be to give an overview of these types of projects as part of the introduction on curriculum planning days. Let’s give people a nudge in this direction.