Explanation and Concept Visualization of PBL
Explanation and Concept Visualization of PBL
PBL (Project-based Learning) is incorporated in the Maple Program MDR course (Directed Research and Reading). Here students take a closer look at Minoh, the city that they live in. The goals of this course are, through engaging in a group project, to gain a broad understanding of the city’s nature, history, culture and society; to identify a problem of Minoh and think up a solution; and to present this solution in a suitable way.
As visualized below, the PBL activities are based on several connections. First of all, the connection between the past and the future, and Japan and foreign countries. The connection between the past and the future is visible in the accumulation of learning efforts; the current and future students continue their exploration, building on the findings of previous students. The connection between Japan and foreign countries lies in the comparisons students make between Japan and their home country or region, looking at Japan from the viewpoint of a foreign student.
Furthermore, there are also the connections between our center (CJLC) and other departments of Osaka University, as well as between the university and the region. During these PBL activities, not only the students can get the help of the citizens and people associated with Minoh, there are also several companies which attend the presentation session, making the presentations more meaningful by giving comments and asking questions to the students. In this way, our students attempt to gain a deeper understanding of the regional society, and their learning activities receive warm support.
In this course, students deepen their knowledge of the nature, history, culture and society of Minoh, based on various aforementioned connections, and aim to develop new ways of problem-solving they found themselves. We look forward to seeing how rich our students’ ideas are and how they collaborate with others during these learning activities.