“What I Used To Think/But Now I Know” 

Ray Tedder

I have known for years that the way that we deliverers of education were teaching in ways that were not as effective as we would like it to be.  But it was the way that it has always been done.

Over the years, I have tried different delivery methods with varying degrees of success and with varying degrees of opposition.  After some very bad experiences, I was--and am still--apprehensive about this method. 

PBL has a lot of similarities to the methods that I have tried in the past: having students do guided research and independent research.  I took classes and went to seminars and made modifications in my methods.  Most of the modifications had to do with scaffolding for students.  I knew that it was a struggle for students but I also saw the benefits.  For a number of reasons that I do not feel comfortable in revealing publicly, I chose to back away from these methods.

PBL takes what I was trying to do another step--or maybe several--toward introducing more scaffolding.  This is good.  The benefits of students doing truly independent research is teaching--or allowing them to learn--what it is to be a scientist and that is what science teachers ought to be teaching.  If more scaffolding will get them there; fantastic.    

I used to think that something needed to change.  I used to think that my methods were the way to effect that change.  I now know that PBL has the potential to be an improvement over what I was trying to do.