Chapter 7

Chapter 7: The Tutorial Process

Introduction
The tutorial process is at the heart of PBL. In addition to the acquisition of knowledge and conceptual
understanding relevant to the given problem, we believe the tutorial group also has positive
cognitive and motivational effects on students’ learning. There are variations of the PBL tutorial
process, based on the Barrows’ model. This chapter describes the tutorial process we used for our
students.

Traditional versus PBL tutorial

The tutorial process in PBL is often confused with the Case Method of teaching (Barrows 1992). It is
important to distinguish between the two. Although the Case Method teacher does not directly give
information to students, but challenges them to present their own thinking, he/she does provide
students with information and direction. This is done by responding to students’ ideas with counter
examples, absurdities that would result from their ideas, or by providing new facts that will shape
their thinking at a critical point. On the other hand, in the PBL tutorial, the case or situation generates
the analytical process in which the students have to discover what they know and what they need to
know in order to deal with a given situation. Students in the study have to take responsibility to
acquire and test the applicability of knowledge for understanding issues and determinants from a
potential practice perspective (von Schilling 1995). The tutorial process is a regular meeting of
students and tutors to discuss a topic. In PBL, the tutorial process structures the discussion and it
provides students with a framework for working through their tutorial topic presented as a problem
(Clarke 2002).
According to Bertola and Murphy (1994), successful tutorials contain the following features:
• Clarifying the role of tutor.
• Clarifying expectations.
• Planning session.
• Providing clear tasks
• Modelling the kind of behaviour that the tutor wants to encourage and observe in students.
• Providing a conducive environment.
• Keeping students’ attention on the topic and how it relates to the ‘big picture’ of the unit.
• Listening effectively.
• Focusing on the process as well as content.
However, the tutorial in PBL is different from that described by Bertola and Murphy (1994). The main
difference is that in PBL there are no clear tasks. The tasks in PBL are typically open-ended and
‘messy’ in order to provide suitable stimulus for higher-order learning. Although there are different
versions of Barrows’ tutorial process, the basic concept is the same. During the tutorial process, the
students actively engage with a problem, formulate hypotheses, identify learning issues, evaluate,
reformulate and revise them.
Students work through the same phases of the PBL process for each problem. The tutorial process
provides a framework for working on the problem and allows the tutor and students to independently
and collectively monitor and manage student progress in working through the problem. All PBL
processes involve a sequence of working steps. The PBL process at Maastricht University consists
of the following seven steps:
1. Group clarifies the text of problem.
2. Students define the problem.

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3. Group brainstorms to identify explanations of the phenomena observed in the problem

scenario.
4. The group reaches an interim conclusion of the problem.
5. Group formulates the learning issues.
6. Group conducts independent study to achieve learning outcomes.
7. Group discusses the knowledge acquired.
Step 7 is generally a second tutorial where students re-examine the problem in the light of the new
knowledge. Students can also critique the resources used and summarise and integrate the
knowledge acquired. Students also evaluate their performance in problem solving, self-directed
learning and tutorial performance at the end of the session.
It is generally acknowledged by PBL practitioners that the role of the tutor in the tutorial process is to
help students acquire the knowledge and skills to solve the problem, develop reasoning skills, team
skills and self-directed learning skills. We concur with Hmelo and Ferrari (1997) that the key benefits
of the PBL tutorial are:
• Development of professional reasoning or higher-order learning skills.
• The practice of reflection or self and peer assessment of the attainment of knowledge, the
value of resources and the performance of professional skills.

Small group Tutorial

In PBL learning, the group consists of five or six students with a tutor as a facilitator. The tutorial
session begins with a problem given to the group by the tutor. The problem serves as a stimulus for
learning. Rather than teaching the results of the investigation of others, so that the students learn
passively, the tutor assists students in learning and mastering through the process of active
investigation. The process involves the ability to formulate good questions, identify and collect
evidence, present results systematically, analyse and interpret results, formulate conclusions and
evaluate the worth and importance of those conclusions (Lee 2004). The process also includes the
ability to identify and examine the problems, generate possible solutions and select the best solution
with appropriate justification.
This approach to learning fosters intellectual development and maturity, and the recognition that
ambiguity and uncertainty are inevitable. Students must learn to make reasoned judgements and act
in ways consistent with those judgements. In the PBL tutorial, the tutor guides students in reasoning
their way through the problem. Significant findings are recorded by the group along with their
hypothesis and learning issues, the knowledge needed to better understand and further pursue the
problem. The tutor in the small group process facilitates students’ access to their prior knowledge
and the identification of the limitations of their knowledge. During the tutorial process, the tutor also
guides students to articulate the knowledge of the relevant disciplines as it relates to the given
problem.
The need for information to solve the problem generates learning issues for further studies. Students
working individually or in small groups identify and use a variety of resources to study the learning
issues. They then return to the group to discuss and share what they have learned and apply their
new knowledge to the problem. They are then able to confirm or reject their hypothesis. The tutorial
process allows integration of learning, as students study different aspects of the problem. Members
of the group also access the resources used by each of the other members of the group.
Despite the different variations on the tutorial process, it typically consists of:
• Identifying the facts in the problem.
• Generating ideas about the problem.
• Identifying things that they have to learn - learning issues - so that they can test their ideas or
hypotheses.
• Evaluating the ideas to see if these are valid solutions to the problem.

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The above inquiry-organising steps help students become familiar with reasoning processes, to fill in
what they do not know in their knowledge base, and to use the newly acquired knowledge to refine or
discard their ideas, thus generating a whole new set of learning issues.

The PBL Tutorial Process

The purpose of the tutorial process is to guide students, through inquiry, to answer their own
questions, search out answers to problems and relate their knowledge to real-life applications (Ward
& Lee 2002). It encourages students to look for new solutions to relevant problems using available
knowledge and resources. According to Ward & Lee (2002), the tutorial process expands students’
critical thinking and problem-solving skills whilst enhancing their creative capabilities.
It is important for tutors to understand the flow of activity during the PBL stages. This includes
beginning the problem, inquiry, investigation, problem solution and debriefing in order to coach
students effectively (Stepien & Pyke 1997). PBL begins when students understand the problem
statement, build hypotheses that launch investigation and list what they already know, what they do
not know, and what they need to know to solve the problem. Listing what they know, what they do
not know, and what they need to know is an important step in the group tutorial process. During the
tutorial session, as students gather and share information, the ‘what they need to know’ column is
updated. The ‘needed to know’ information is updated to ‘what they know’ as new information is
acquired. Other needed information will be identified by the students as the problem evolves. This is
then added to the ‘what they need to know’ list. We have adopted a slight variation of the Barrows
model. Our tutorial process consists of four main phases as shown in Figure 7.1.
The four stages represent steps in the group’s reasoning through a task or problem. More than one
session is often required for the tutorial process. During the first stage, students begin the problem.
They then define their objectives, reasoning their way through the problem and identifying what they
need to learn. Students then go off and carry out self-directed learning to achieve the identified
learning needs. In the third phase, students return from their self-directed study to apply what has
been learned during the self-directed study. There may be more sessions held for the problem or
task if students find there are more needs to be learned during the application of their newly acquired
knowledge. In stage four, the group presents and reports the findings of the problem to the tutor and
their peers, following its completion. Students also conduct self-evaluation of their learning and
performance of the problem.
During the tutorial session, students should identify the problem, identify what is already known by
activating their prior knowledge, suggest possible causes, explain their reasoning in terms of
evidence presented, explore the limits of their understanding, ask questions and formulate learning
issues, discover and incorporate new learned information and revise thinking.
For each tutorial session, students should come prepared to discuss the problem and the learning
issues that have been researched since the last tutorial. Each student should actively participate in
group discussion and contribute to learning by debating evidence related to the case, based on the
learning issue developed.

Activity By Whom
• set the scene • group (with tutor)
• present problem • group (with tutor)
Phase 1 • set hypothesis • group (with tutor)
• identify learning • group (with tutor)
• assign tasks • group (with tutor)
• self-directed learning • individual
Phase 2 • group sharing without tutor • individual and group
• evaluate resources • group (with tutor)
Phase 3 • re-examine the problem • group (with tutor)
• revise hypothesis and learning issues • group (with tutor)
• present findings • group to peers and tutor
Phase 4 • metacognitive critique • tutor and peers
• self evaluation • group (with tutor)

Figure 7.1: The Four Phases of PBL

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Phase 1

Step 1: setting the scene

Before the tutorial process, the roles of the team should be determined. A scribe should be chosen
to write down all the discussion. Each member of the team should take turns to be the scribe or
reporter. In addition to the scribe, a chair person should be appointed by the group. The role of the
chair person is to ensure that the group process functions properly. Before the first tutorial session,
there should be group process training for students, as mentioned in Chapter Five. The students
would have known each other and the tutor before Phase 1 of the tutorial process commences.
Ground rules should be established before Step 1 of the tutorial process. It is very important to
establish the general rules how each member of the group will interact with one another and honour
the PBL tutorial process. Ground rules are written down and students are reminded of them before
each tutorial process. They are necessary because they establish common expectations how each
member of the group will work together. Conflicts can be avoided by having some ground rules and
they also help smooth group interaction. If conflicts do arise, ground rules can be used for
diagnosing problems and deciding what to do to resolve the conflict. Two types of ground rules are
necessary: programmatic and group interaction (University of New Mexico 2002). Programmatic
ground rules are those considered to be essential for PBL learning to take place. These rules must
be made explicit to the students:
• Roles of tutor and students.
• Punctuality and regular attendance.
• All steps of tutorial process must be followed.
• All students must research major learning issues.
• Conduct individual self-directed learning.
• Teach others what you have learnt.
• Conduct regular reflection and assessment.
• Complete assignment tasks.
Group interaction ground rules are concerned with how group members will treat each other in their
interpersonal interaction. Issues to be addressed include:
• Being courteous and respectful to each other.
• Providing constructive feedback.
• Acknowledging others’ contributions.
• Attempting to resolve conflicts.
• Helping to maintain group dynamics.
• Negotiating alternatives if unable to complete assigned tasks.

Step 2: Present the Problem

During this session, the tutor distributes the problem to the students in the group. Each member of
the group reads the problem. In the first tutorial session, it is very important to make sure that
students really understand what they have to solve. The tutor should fully conceptualise the problem
by brainstorming possible linkages to course content. Although the process is meant to be student-
centred, the tutor needs to anticipate certain paths that students may take in order to steer them in
helpful directions that would support the learning of problem solving and critical thinking skills.
The PBL process starts with students understanding about the problem statement. Students then
have to build hypotheses and launch the investigation. To help students to better understand the
problem, the tutors should make sure students know what assumptions are made about the
problems, the context of the problems and what is expected from them. The role of the tutor in the

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tutorial process is that of a coach to assist students by developing questions about the issues under
investigation; determining activities that help to answer the questions and produce a solution that is
viable to the problem.

Issues in the problem

It is important for students to understand the problem before they start to solve it. There are facts
already given in the problem, but there are also many that are missing. It is important that students
understand the context of the problem to be solved. Students need a deep understanding of the
issues in the problem before they can solve it. Questions that are helpful to find out the issues of the
problem include:
• Where did the problem occur?
• What physical resources surround the problem?
• Who has the opinion about the problem?
• What is the nature of the business, agency, or institution?
• What do they produce?
• What are the values, beliefs, socio-cultural expectations of the people involved?
• What is the science in the problem?

• What are the skills and backgrounds of the people involved?

To help students to structure their thought processes, a four-column chart as shown in Figure 7.2 can
be used (adapted from Duffy, 1994).

IDEA (hypothesis) Facts Learning issues Action Plan

Students' conjectures A growing synthesis of Students' list of what Things that need to
regarding the problem. information abstracted they need to know or be done in order to
– may involve through inquiry, understand in order to complete the problem
causation, effect, important to the complete the problem task.
possible resolution, hypothesis to be task.
etc. generated

Figure 7.2: PBL Tutorial Chart

To help solve the problem, students first have to identify what are the facts they already know or are
available to them. This can be written down in Column 2 of the PBL Chart. In here, students share
their own knowledge and experience.

Step 3: Generating Hypotheses

Although some of the facts may already be known by the students, there are many more facts that
are not provided when the problem is first given. Typically in most ill-defined problems, the
information needed to solve the problem is not readily available at the outset. An inquiry has to be
undertaken to obtain the information needed to determine the nature of the problem, what maybe the
cause, and then to effectively manage the problem. A number of possible causes for the problem
(hypotheses) must be generated to serve as a guide to the inquiry. Inquiry involves asking questions.
It is important to generate appropriate questions to help solve the problem.
It is important for students to identify what they do not know. To do this, students need to generate
ideas or hypotheses. That is, to brainstorm for ideas. This is a crucial step in the problem-solving
process. With brainstorming, each member of the group makes suitable suggestions until no more
ideas are forthcoming. To help students to generate hypotheses, it is useful to ask questions about

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what is interesting, puzzling, or important to find out in relation to the problem. We believe that by
asking students open-ended questions, a discussion environment can be created for considering what
needs to be learned to solve the problem. Students should be asked to generate broad hypotheses
and rationales of the problems (individually and/or as a group) using the first column of the PBL chart
in Figure 7.2.
The tutor should discourage students from going into too much detail during this brainstorming step.
This is essential as it encourages students to come up with different solutions to the same problem.
All ideas or hypotheses generated by students are written down in the first column of the chart. At
this stage, all ideas are feasible solutions and must not be discarded. Students are then asked to
rank order the hypotheses on the chart either as individuals or as a group. There should be
discussion among the group as to why hypotheses one, two, three, etc are so ranked.
There are various problem finding strategies that can be used to identify and clarify problems.
Inquiry-guided questions can be used to help students strategise and plan their investigations.
Questions that help probe hypotheses include:
• What assumptions are you making about the problem?
• What could we assume instead?
• What sort of ideas or concepts do we need to investigate here?
• Does any idea come to mind that we can investigate?
• How can we proceed to solve this problem?
• What do you think is missing from the information given?
• What sort of skills do you need to help solve this problem?
• What knowledge you need to help solve this problem?
• What issues do you need to consider here?

Step 4: Testing hypotheses

Here the group examines in more detail the ideas or hypotheses raised in the brainstorming and
compares their ideas against the problem outline to see how well they match, which solutions are
linked and where further explanation is needed. It may be useful for students to write hypotheses on
one side of the board and problems on the other, and then connect the two by explaining how one
leads to another. The emphasis here should be on how. It may be necessary to facilitate the
reworking of hypotheses at any time, using new information or rationales. Tutor can help students to
discover what they know, explore the group’s current knowledge and lead them to discover what they
need to know to understand and address the problem.

Step 5: Identifying the Learning issues

Questions that are needed to explain a hypothesis that cannot be answered by the group during the
time of the tutorial session are known as learning issues. Learning Issues are topics that are deemed
by the group members to be of potential relevance to the problem that they do not understand as
they should. Learning issues can be identified at any step and at any time as the tutorial process
unfolds (UNM 2002). For each idea generated, students are then asked to identify learning issues
that are relevant to the ideas, that is the learning outcomes or objectives that they will need to know
for the solution to the problem. All relevant learning issues identified for each of the ideas generated
are written down in the third (learning issues) column of the chart. Learning issues should be written
as complete sentences that generate higher levels of thinking and focus on the problem. They
should not be Yes or No answers, or solely ‘what’ questions. Instead they should involve ‘how’ and
‘why’ questions. The identification of learning issues reflects on the biases and individual
characteristics of the group. The tutor assists in the processes of identification and discussion.
He/she monitors group progress and interaction, intervening where necessary to help maintain the
direction of the group. It is important to remember that the problem is a springboard to learning. The
problem acts as a stimulus for discussing, asking questions and a framework for organising the
knowledge. It allows for the acquisition of essential information, encourages the development of

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sound concepts and leads to the establishment of principles that are essential to the students. There
are no pre-specified objectives presented to the students beforehand. Students have to generate the
learning issues (objectives) based on the analysis of the problem. In order to identify learning issues,
students have to ask basic questions such as:
• What do I need to know in order to address this problem or question?
• What are the main points to be addressed?
• How does this ….. relate to …..?
• How does this relate to our problem/discussion/issue?
• What method/approach can be used to solve this?
• Is there any method that we know that can be used to help us in solving this?
• How does that apply to this case?
It is important that every member of the group agrees on the group’s learning issues; that is, what is it
that the group wants to achieve? What knowledge and skills do they want to acquire in their
activities with the problem or task?

Step 6: Plan Action – assign tasks

Having identified all of the important learning issues, the next step is to write an action plan
consisting of the tasks to do for each of the learning issues for the next session. This is followed by
deciding which issues everyone will tackle and which will be divided up for individuals to tackle. The
identified learning issues are ranked in order of priority. Each student is assigned certain learning
issues to study. Some fundamental learning issues will be studied by all students; others will be
divided up among the members of the group. Details of which learning issues and actions to be
taken are written down in Column 4 of the PBL chart. An elaborate planning sheet such as the one in
Figure 7.4 at the end of Appendix 7B can be used to help students to assign tasks and plan work.
Besides assigning of learning issues to group members, the type of resources expected to be used
are included, for example, looking up notes, books, conducting a literature search, searching the
Internet, asking an expert, etc.
In summary, the steps for this phase consist of:
1. Writing down a list of tasks to do.
2. Deciding on what issues everyone will tackle.
3. Deciding on specific issues each individual will tackle.
4. Deciding on what resources to use.
A session is not complete until each student is fully aware of the responsibility that he/she will take
and particular learning issues identified to be learned. Since all this is taking place in front of the
tutor, he/she is able to keep a close eye on the progress of each member of the group. This also
helps the tutor to monitor the learning outcomes of the students to ascertain that their hypotheses
generated are not completely off target. The tutor would also be able to know which student is doing
what, thus making sure that all are contributing. Once this has been agreed, students would go away
to do their self-directed or independent work. Before the tutorial ends, the schedule for the next
tutorial is drawn up and agreed.

Phase 2:

Self-directed learning
After the tutorial session, students all engage in self-directed learning. Self-directed learning is
where the learner initiates the learning, makes decisions about what to learn and how to learn. The
learner selects his/her own learning goals, objectives, strategies and means of evaluating that the
goals were met.

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According to Hiemstra (1994), educators can facilitate self-directed learning by:

• Making sure that learners are aware of the objectives, learning strategies, resources, and
evaluation criteria once they are decided upon.
• Teaching inquiry skills, decision making, personal development and self evaluation of work.
• Helping learners develop positive attitudes and feelings independence relative to learning.
• Helping to match resources to the needs of learners.
• Helping learners to locate resources.
Self-directed learning is a core component of PBL. We concur with Silen and Uhlia (2004) on two
issues that are important to improve students’ self-directed learning. These are student’s inquiry into
their learning process in the tutorial process and information literacy during self-directed learning.
Students should be helped to develop both inquiry process and information literacy for the tutorial
process. Information literacy is an integral part of learning. Students must be able to search and
make choices from the huge amount of information available. They must have the ability to
scrutinise, judge and assess relevance.
The learning issues identified during Step 5 of the tutorial session are crucial to what students’ self-
directed learning will generate. It is also important to consider the kind of learning resources that
they need to use to research their learning issues. When students are working alone, outside of their
group session, they will inevitably encounter many different resources that they could use. There are
many questions that need to be addressed. Questions such as, “How do I prepare for the search?”
(How to carry out the search, the sorting and assessing of information), “How do I know I have the
right information?” etc. Many students lack information-literacy skills and are often confused as to
how to proceed. We believe that students need challenges, support and feedback to develop
information-literacy skills. Gaining information-literacy skills is now regarded as an important
learning process (Limberg 2000; Silen & Uhlin 2004).

Step 7: Individual learning

During this step, students will individually seek out any available resources to obtain the information
that will contribute towards understanding, explaining and solving of the problem for the different
learning issues they need to learn. After each group meeting, the next stage of the self-study work is
worked on. This is the time in which students conduct their own studies. The time spent outside of
the group facilitates the development of skills such as literature retrieval, critical appraisal of
available information and the seeking of opinions of peers and specialists. Students are expected to
research and elaborate on new information and concepts that each of them is allocated from the
learning issues/objectives defined during the tutorial session. As they return to their small groups,
they will bring this new knowledge and information to the group.
During the individual study, each student should research on the learning issues identified during the
tutorial group session using various resources. Having researched for new information, students
should critically evaluate the credibility of the sources and the validity of the information obtained
from the research. Once the student has done this, he/she should integrate what has been learned
through research, lectures or other means into what is discussed in the tutorial sessions. Besides
integration, students should also synthesise what they have learned. This is to prepare them for
discussion (without reading from their materials as much as possible), and applying it to the problem
at the next tutorial session.

Step 8: Group sharing without tutor

This is not a typical step in traditional PBL. However, we believe it is a very useful extra step to have
in the tutorial process. Before students return to their tutorial session with their tutor, the group meets
together. This meeting together serves two purposes. Firstly, it is to make sure that each member of
the group has completed his/her assigned work. Secondly, each of the members of the group has to
teach and explain to the others what he/she has researched and learned. This enables the student
who is doing the explaining or teaching to articulate his/her learning. We found this helpful to
students because they tend to have a better understanding of the learning when required to teach or
explain it to others.

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To help students to prepare for this, we explain to them characteristics of the strategies that can help
them better process information and regulate learning; how these are used; what skills are involved
in them; when, how and why to use one strategy or another, and what they are used for. To do this
effectively, students are expected to assume responsibility for their own learning as well as their
group’s progress. The quality of the learning in the group is dependent on the quality of the input by
the members of the group taking an active role in helping one another to learn.

Phase 3.

Step 9: Group reassembles to report on self study

In this second meeting with the tutor, the group returns to discuss what they have learned in their
self-study. Each student reports on the output of their study, shares information about the sources
they used, helps each understand the problem and identifies problem areas that need further study or
that require help. During this session, students must apply, through their interactive discussion in the
tutorial, what they have learned. They must do this in a manner that will provide a deeper
understanding of the problem and make sure of the recall of that information when they encounter
similar problems in the future. In this step, the tutor asks the students to start over with the problem
or situation from the very beginning and describe what they now realise they should have thought
and done with the problem (hypothesis, inquiry strategy, synthesis, decision, etc.), based on their new
learning. Students should be made to compare their new thinking with what they had thought and
done previously. Information obtained by each student’s self-directed learning is then brought into
the picture at the point the issue was raised in the prior discussion so that the new knowledge can be
applied to the problem and integrated into what is already known (Barrows 1988). By doing this,
students critique prior knowledge and reasoning and apply new knowledge as they reason, linking
reasoning skills and knowledge into the long-term memory.
During this step, students analyse and evaluate information for relevance. They will review the
hypotheses that were generated prior to going off to self-directed study. Students discuss and share
what they have learned and apply their new knowledge to the problem by either confirming or
rejecting their hypothesis. Any suggested changes in the hypothesis will reflect what was learned
during self-study and open an interactive discussion of what was learned. This tutorial process
enables the integration of learning as students study all facets of the problem. Information from all
relevant disciplines is studied and applied to the problem since integration of knowledge is essential
to the problem-solving process.
Information gained through inquiry during the self study by students is assembled into a growing
representation of the problem (problem synthesis). To help students to analyse for its relevance to
the hypothesis generated, or to decide whether a new hypothesis needs to be considered (analysis),
the tutor can help students, by asking relevant metacognitive questions such as:
• What do you mean by …..?
• Can you give an example of this?
• Can you elaborate on this?
• Why do you say that?
• What do you imply by that?
• How can we know we are right?
• How can we find out?
• Can we break this down further?
• Is the evidence sound?
• Can someone else give evidence to support that?
• How did you come to that conclusion?
• How do we find out if it is true?

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• Can you explain your reason to us?

• Is there a reason to doubt the evidence?
• Why is this issue important?
When students have gained new information from their studies, they should then use this information
to refine their hypothesis. As the problem unfolds and the students evaluate their hypothesis, they
should consider what information is needed to help make the hypothesis more (or less) likely. If their
hypothesis is correct, what predictions would they make? (UNM 2000).
When blind alleys are encountered, or inquiry reveals new aspects of the problem, the process
becomes cyclical; new hypotheses are developed, new inquiry strategies are undertaken. Steps 7 to
9 of the tutorial process are repeated until the group feels they have completed the problem. During
this step, it is important to have a critical look at the resources the students used. Students evaluate
what was useful and what was not so useful. Students should also evaluate how current are the
resources that they use: How credible and how accurate are they? Is there any reason to suspect
bias in the source? The tutor should ask each student to describe what resources they actually used
during self-study and to criticise them. It is important to make sure that students do not describe
what they have learned from the resource, but just to critique it as a resource.
Students work on the problem with the new information learned from their self-studies. They do not
simply tell what they have learned. Instead, they use the learning to re-examine the problem. The
cycle is repeated if new learning issues arise – typical of many problems in life. In summary, this
step of the tutorial process is used to reassess the problem. The columns of the PBL chart in Figure
7.2 are now altered to those of Figure 7.3 (adapted from Duffy 1994).

IDEAS (Hypothesis) FACTS LEARNING ISSUES ACTION PLAN

Revise Apply new knowledge Identify new (if Redesign decisions

and re-synthesise the necessary)
problem

Figure 7.3. Problem follow-up chart

Phase 4

Step 10: Present findings and communicate results

When students have completed their problem, they should present and communicate their results to
their peers and tutor. Following the completion of their presentation, students should reflect upon
what has been learned and determine if there are any things that they have missed out in their
overall understanding of the problem. They should also reflect on how their new learning relates to
prior problems and prepares them for future problems. By doing so, students can determine and
discuss what important overall concepts or principles have been learned. This is important because
this helps to convert procedural knowledge, gained through problem solving, into declarative
knowledge for recall and use with other problems in the future (Pbli 2004). If this step is not taken,
what has been learned may not be consciously recalled by students for transfer to other problem
contexts in the future. The tutor can help students by asking them questions such as, “What have
they learned with the problem? What new facts or concepts?”
During the evaluate-and-report step of the tutorial process, the types of questions to be considered
should include:
• How are we doing?
• What is working?
• What is not working?
• How do we know we are progressing?

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Step 11: Self reflection

Self and peer assessment should be conducted after the completion of each problem. It is important
for students to become proficient in assessing their individual learning progress and that of their
peers. If the students are to assume responsibility for their own learning, they have to be able to
accurately assess the ability to work with a problem or task. If students have the self-assessment
skills, they can conduct their own performance assessment at the end of their course of study.
It is important for the tutorial group to undergo a formal evaluation session after completion of the
problem. Each member of the group should be asked to describe what they thought of how they had
reasoned through the problem (problem solving), self-directed learning strategies used and support of
the group process. Following the evaluation by each individual member of the group, the tutor
should ask the other students to comment on that evaluation and add their own opinion about the
student’s performance. The ability to accurately monitor the adequacy of their own personal
performance is essential for students in developing life-long, self-directed learning skills. Students
should be helped to reflect upon individual and group performance based on the following criteria:
knowledge base; communication; assessment skills; and reasoning processes:
• Provide constructive feedback to student.
• Include feedback from each person about him/herself and the group process.
• Model the processes (UNM 2000).
• Provide reflection: A good coach encourages learners to reflect on (monitor and analyse)
their performance. This can be achieved by inserting provoking questions that:
o Ask the learners to reflect on what they have done.
o Ask the learners to reflect on what assumptions they made.
o Ask the learners to reflect on what strategies they used.
o Ask the learners to explain why they made a particular response.
o Ask the learners to confirm and intended response.
o Ask the learners to state how certain they are in a response.
o Require learners to argue with the coach.
o Provide puzzles that learners need to solve which will lead to appropriate
performance.
Appendix 7A is a typical example of how Phase 1 of the tutorial process is conducted from a
problem given to students. Appendix 7B is the facilitator’s notes given to help him/her during the
tutorial process.

Factors Affecting the Tutorial Process

We believe that several factors affect the success of the tutorial process, among them are the
following:
• According to Barrows (1992), it is important for tutors to make sure that each phase of the
tutorial process is taken in the right sequence. The tutorial process must be kept moving to
make sure that no phase of the learning process is passed over or neglected.
• There must be a deeper probe of students’ knowledge during the tutorial session. It is
important for the tutor to continually ask, “Why?” “What do you mean?” “How do you know it
is true?” “What does that mean?” until the students reach a deeper understanding of the
knowledge expected of them. Students must not be allowed to get away with a superficial
understanding of ideas and the terms used.
• All students should be involved in the group process. Tutors should make sure that all
students’ opinions or points of view are heard.

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• Each student’s progress should be monitored by the tutor, making sure that no one is falling
behind or having difficulty with learning. The tutor has to watch all students all of the time
and make sure everything is progressing well with their studies.
• The tutorial process should be modulated to the challenge of the problem or task at hand.
The tutorial session should not be too slow or easy, nor should it be too complex and
overwhelming.
• It is important for the tutor to realise that his/her role in the group tutorial process is at the
metacognitive level, the reasoning or problem solving process required for the task, situation
or problem confronting the students in the group (Barrows 1988).
• At this stage it is important to ensure that students explore all possible hypotheses for the
cause of the problem before they start conducting inquiry to gain more information about the
problem, i.e., they should be seeking learning issues. It is important during this step that the
tutor never allows terms, ideas, explanations or comments to go unchallenged or undefined.
Questions such as these below should be used to challenge students:
o Can you tell me more about that?
o What do you mean by that?
o Why do you say that?
o How do you know that it is true?
o Can you define the term used?
o Why do you want to know that?
During the tutorial session the tutor must apply these metacognitive challenges constantly, making
sure that students carefully consider each step in their reasoning, their learning needs and also
identify learning resources. The tutor should model the thinking process for the students,
demonstrating to them the questions that should be asked to deal with the problem or task (Barrows
1988).
It is important that the tutor makes sure that students go through each stage of the group tutorial
process and consider their thinking as they work through the problem. Students must be able to
generate hypotheses, develop inquiry strategies to solve the problem, analyse new date in the light of
generated hypotheses, synthesise and give a problem description or formulation from the significant
new data obtained, and make evaluative (diagnostic) and management (treatment) decisions
(Barrows 1988). Tutors must not give students information, but stimulate them to determine what
they need to learn and how to learn it on their own.

Conclusion
PBL provides a well described method for constructivist learning modelled on the example of
cognitive apprenticeship (Collins et al 1989). The role of the tutor is to make expertise visible and
tacit thinking processes explicit. In addition the tutor must guide students through the learning
process; pushing them to think deeply and modelling the questions that students need to ask
themselves. The tutorial process is the hub of learning in PBL. It is significant for developing
student’s critical thinking and metacognitive skills in dealing with relevant professional problems.
Through the tutorial process, students become independent, self-directed learners, who learn how to
manage learning effectively and develop an attitude of responsibility for life-long learning.
Developing group skills is also a prerequisite for tutorial learning. Faculty development and support
for tutors in the tutorial process is essential for the success of PBL. Tutors must be properly trained
in the tutorial process. Adequate time must be given to help tutors acquire this important skill before
allowing them to take on the tutorial role. However, the tutorial process is very labour intensive.
Novice facilitators often find the process very difficult. As the novices struggle with the facilitation
they may be overly directive as they try to guide the group’s agenda. One method to address this is
to have the questions that the expert asks by incorporating them as procedure facilitations for the
novice tutors in different stages of learning (Hmelo-Silver 2000). These types of hints can be
incorporated into an online tutor tool kit. Another solution would be using a distributed PBL system
(Steinkuehler et al 2002).

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References
Barrows, H.S. (1988). The tutorial process. Springfield IL.: Southern Illinois University, School of
Medicine.
Barrows, H.S. (1992). The tutorial process, Springfield, IL, Southern Illinois University School of
Medicine.
Bertola, P. & Murphy, E. (1994). Tutoring at University: A Beginner's Practical Guide, A CAUT
National Teaching Development Fund Project, Curtin University, Western Australia: Paradigm
Books.
Clarke, S. (2002). Developing Quality Participation in Tutorial: HERDSA.
Duffy, T.M. (1994, August). Problem-based learning: NATO Advanced Studies Institute, Workshop
on Supporting Learning in Computer Environments, Herriott-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland,
Hiemstra, R. (1994). Self-Directed Learning. In T. Husen & T.N. Postlethwaite (eds.), The
International Encyclopedia of Education (2nd Edition). Oxford: Pergamon Press
Hmelo, C.E. & Ferrari, M. (1997). The Problem-Based Learning Tutorial: Cultivating higher-order
thinking skills. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 20, 267-273.
Hmelo-silver, C. (2000). Knowledge Recycling: Crisscrossing the Landscape of Educational
Psychology in a Problem Based Learning course for Preservice Teachers, Journal on Excellence in
College Teaching, 11, 41-56.
Lee, V.S. (2004). Promoting Learning Through Inquiry. Teaching Excellence: Towards the best in the
academy,15(3). 203-204.
Limberg, L. (2000). Is there a relationship between information literacy and learning outcomes? In
C. Bruce & P. Candy (eds.), Information Literacy around the world: advances in programs and
research. Wagga Wagga NSW : Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University.
Problem-Based Learning Initiative (Pbli) (2004). The minimal essentials for Problem-Based Learning
in Medical Education. Retrieved March 30.2005 from web site:
[Link]
Silen, C. & Uhlia, L. (2004). Self-directed learning – a learning issue for the student. Paper
presented at PBL 2004 International Conference, 14-18 June, Cancun, Mexico.
Steinkuehler, C.A., Derry, S. J., Hmelo-silver, C. E., DelMarcelle, M. (2002). Crackling the resource
nut with distributed problem-based learning in secondary teacher education, Journal of Distance
Education, 23, 23-39.
Stepien, W. & Pyke, S.L. (1997). Designing Problem-Based Learning Units. Journal for the Education
Leadership, April, 25-28.
University of New Mexico (2002). Faculty and Student Guide: To Problem-Based Learning (PBL)
Tutorial in Phase I curriculum of the University of New Mexico, School of Medicine. Retrieved March
30.2005 from web site: Website//[Link]/som/TED/[Link]
Von Schilling, K. (1995). The significance of the tutorial process. Presentation at the International
Conference on Problem-Based Learning in Higher Education, Linkoping, Sweden.
Ward, J.D. & Lee, C.L. (2002). A Review of Problem-Based Learning. Journal of Family and
Consumer Sciences Education, 20(1).

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Appendix 7A: PBL Case 1 - Requirements Analysis

Appendix 7B is an example of the facilitator notes given to the tutor for this PBL case.

Phase one
♦ Step 1: Setting the scene

Initial Formalities

Choose a chairperson for this first PBL case. The task of the person is to ensure that steps 1-5 of the
PBL method have been completed and documented by the end of the meeting.

1. Choose a scribe for this case. The task of the scribe is to produce minutes, detailing the main
points and actions, and distribute copies to each member of the team.

2. Decide on a team name.

3. Remember that the last event of any meeting should be to check the actions to be taken deadlines
and individual responsibilities.

♦ Step 2: Present the problem

Students are given the following problem.

Scenario

Ace Training Ltd is a small company, which delivers technical computer-training courses at its training
centre in Manchester, and on customer premises throughout the UK. It employs a Sales manager, ten
sales staff, two marketing people, and two accounts staff in its head office in Liverpool. The Managing
Director (MD), his secretary and switchboard/receptionist are also located there.

At the training centre there are the following employees: a manager, two administrators, one
technician and ten instructors.

The sales representatives make the vast majority of sales over the telephone. There is very little use
of information technology in the head office. The marketing department has one Apple Macintosh ®
computer, the accounts department uses one PC running Sage® accounting software and the Sales
department has one PC for preparing quotes. The MD’s secretary also has a computer.

The Managing Director views the current system as inefficient. He has called in your team, as
consultants, to advise him. He believes a network for the head office will improve sales performance
significantly. Your terms of reference are:

♦ To design and present proposal for purchase, implementation and support of new network for
Sales tracking, accounts and general administration.

This is a sizeable task, despite the small scale of the company. Clearly such factors such as cost of
the solution, training and support are required for a comprehensive solution.

There is insufficient information given above to specify the solution precisely. You will need to find out
additional information by arranging interviews with appropriate people in the company. You are
restricted to two twenty-minute interviews.

To assist you with solving this problem, I have structured it as a series of smaller problems,
which will be referred to as PBLs 1, 2 and 3. They are:
1. PBL1: Requirements Analysis: The output is a requirements spec in Week 3.
2. PBL2: Draft System specification. You need to decide on the software and hardware for
your system before you can build a demo system. This should be handed in at the end
of Week 6.

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3. PBL3: Building and installing a system (3x PCs) to demonstrate your solution.
Configuring the application software, users, and printer etc to demonstrate your solution.
Lab notes for practical tasks are available on module web site.

Make sure you involve everyone in this activity. At this stage it will be worth going
round in turn to identify any parts of the question that you are unsure about.

Activity 1. Now read the information given to you about the Ace Training scenario.

Activity 2. Make a list of issues that need clarifying. Are there any parts of the problem statement that
are unclear or incomplete? Are there any terms used that you don’t understand? If so, list them.
(E.g. in your learning log)

Activity 3: Define the problem - In this case it is to identify the requirements of Ace Training.

Activity 4: Identify what you know about this already that is to identify the requirements that you can
find from the information provided. The requirements can be broken into a number of headings, e.g.:
Functional requirements (what the system must do), non-functional (e.g. Support, training, constraints
on hardware, software or location). The scribe should make a list of all that have been suggested.

♦ Step 3: Generating hypothesis

Activity 1. Brainstorm for ideas or hypotheses for things that you do not know. The hypotheses
generated should be written down in column 1 of the PBL chart in figure 7.2. No ideas should be
discounted and all must be included. Use inquiry-guided questions to help with hypotheses generation.

♦ Step 4: Testing hypotheses

Hypotheses raised during brainstorming should be compared with the problem outline to see how they
match.

♦ Step 5: Identify learning issues.

Do not rule out any suggestions at this stage; the purpose is to generate ideas.

Activity 1. For each hypothesis generated. Identify learning issues or objectives to be learned. This
should be written down in column three of the PBL chart in figure 7.2.

Activity 2. Make a systematic list. Examine the Learning Issues your team has produced. Organise the
connections between them, group ideas into categories, value and sort out what is irrelevant.

Activity 3. Rank the learning issues in the order of their importance.

Activity 4. Make a list of the learning issues to be investigated by the group.

1. A list of things you need to investigate / find out / get answers to. These are called
learning issues.

Identify what you do not know, and what you need to learn or understand to
solve the problem.

E.g. what information do you need to know from Ace Training? - You should have a
Important! long list here - categorise it.
Do you know what should be included in a requirements specification? If not, how are you
going to find out?
How are you going to find out the information? - The processes used? Are you confident
about how to tackle this? If not, what can you do?
Do you need to do any preliminary research for background information? If so, what?
Step 6: Plan action- assign tasks

♦ Activity 1. Create a plan to solve the learning issues.

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After identifying what you do not know or what you need to know, you will create a study or
work plan that will include all or part of the following steps. Use the planning sheet – you
need to hand one copy to your tutor.
Activity 2. Prioritise learning needs
Activity 3. Set learning goals and objectives
Activity 4. Decide who will do what, and by when.
Activity 5. Decide how / when the individual learning will be shared with the rest of the group.
Give a copy of your plan to your tutor before you leave.
Phase two
Step 7 - Individual work
You are now ready to complete your study plan.
Each member of the group should decide his/her knowledge and learning needs. He/she
should organise her/his own way to the new knowledge. Members can work individually or
within groups.
Remember that the timescale is very tight (realistically so) for this part of the case study.
You will not have a lot of time available to interview your clients next week, so you must be
well-prepared.
Resources

There are a number of resources available to you:

1. For information about networking technology and terminology, see the course text and
resources available on the module Web site.

2. For resources about interviewing skills and information about Ace Training, consult the
module web site.

3. Template for requirement specification – see module web site.

Deliverables

You must produce a draft requirement specification and submit it via your team user id to
LearnWise. You will receive feedback on this.

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Appendix 7B: ACE Requirements - for PBL Case 1 Facilitator notes.

Trigger: See student’s guide to PBL1

Schedule:
Class activities Independent study /
submissions
Intro to course (plenary lecture) Plan interview, locate
Intro to PBL1: Requirements Analysis resources.
Week 1 Explore scenario, generate list of questions / information required for
interviews next week.
Create plan
Role play interviews Review findings,
View , analyze and evaluate Video interviews (technique and construct requirements
Week 2 information content) specification.
Interview Managing Director (20 minutes): receive oral feedback
Interview Sales Manager (20 minutes): receive oral feedback
Sharing/ meeting Submit draft requirement
Review progress; identify any other information required / request from specification
Week 3 tutor.
Finalize requirement specification
Review team performance to date

Resources:
The Module web site identifies a long list of suitable resources, linked to the PBL case. There are:
• PBL process documentation in the module guide.
• Notes on interviewing techniques
• An example template for a Requirements Specification.
• Ace Training’s software and hardware inventory
• Ace Training’s organization chart
• Layout of Liverpool office and details of construction.
• Some example forms (invoices, orders) which were once requested by a team. (These are irrelevant.)
• Video of interviews (good and bad technique) with the Accounts department manager.
Background
Following is summary of requirement as an aide memoir for the role plays. Students should work from their
own requirements generated at the end of PBL1. Assessment criteria are in the module guide and web site.
Role play information is included for faculty in Guide for Sales Manager and Guide for Managing Director .
Note, there is a conflict: MD does not want internal email, Sales manager and Accounts Manager do. Students
need to acknowledge and discuss approach to resolve this. Different client views are realistic.
Requirements
Sales Dept
1. Contact mgt software, enabling all sales reps to
2. PC per sales person inc mgr.
access all client details from their own PC.
3. E-mail to Manchester via ISP 4. Web site with email enquiry (not e-commerce)
6. Facility for sales reps to produce own quotes /
5. High speed printer
letters
Accounts Dept
1. Update Sage to latest Line50 Accounts (Euro &
2. 2 x new PC
performance issues)
3. Printer replacement
Marketing Dept
2. Mailing list in-house (use contact mgt software
1. Keep iMac / printer, not networked
to generate it).

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General Admin
2. Security - Personnel data / Sales/ Accounts
1. PC for all staff except Marketing .
kept separate. Internet security needed.
3. All PCs to be networked, current ones to be
4. Budget - within GBP40k
included if possible.
Training Requirements
1. On-site training for sales, in small groups. Cannot 2. General PC training in-house.
release more than half at a time.
3. Training schedule & plan required.
Installation requirements
1. Outside working hours
Support requirements
1. Specification for a technician / Web developer inc 2. Maximum down time is half an hour during
qualifications & salary. working day

Week 1
Aim: Today the aim is to ensure they have explored the problem statement and
1. Elected team leader and scribe for PBL1
2. Analyzed the problems statement and background to produce an outline list of requirements
3. Identified a list of information that they will need to find out from interview.
4. Explored the Module Web site for resources.
5. Created a plan of who does what and by when.
This is the first time they’ve done this: you need to make sure
• You give them lots of encouragement
• They follow the PBL stages systematically (see module guide)
• Everyone is involved.
• They discuss feelings as well as task (at start or end)
• A plan is produced.
• Times are arranged for interviews next week.
Prompt them towards considering the following without directly giving them the topics. If they can’t get there,
they need to investigate what is needed in a network.
Possible Questions to ask:
1. What do they need to know about the company? Why?
• Eg : Company processes, communication, decision making, services & product lifecycles,
organisational structures, future plans/ acquisitions, Customer/ partner/ vendor relationships
2. What sort of things will they have to specify eventually – does this affect questions they will ask?
• System software, choice of O/S: what facilities they will require.
• Applications: what needed?
• Resilience, what does it mean?
• Security issues -
• Networking: Cabling compatibility
• Hardware: to support software. Server (see notes on WebCT under resources), Printers, clients.
• Training - Application
• Installation: costs, cable runs, time etc.
• Support - after identified O/S
3. Interviewing – how to do it well?
They need to think about interviewing.
• Is the purpose just to get information? (e.g. impress with your professionalism)
• Who should they interview? (they should identify a number of peoples, for different perspectives. It is
limited to two so who would be most appropriate?)
• What is a good or bad interview?
• What sort of questions will you ask? – Eg do you ask the same questions to all clients? (e.g. Would
you ask the MD what operating system he wants to use, Linux or Windows?) Why not?

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• What structure should there be to the interview?

• How will you record answers?

I would expect them to plan a meeting to finalize interview questions prior to the interviews. Emphasize that all
students must participate in the interview.

Week 2
Aim: Today the aim is for students to practice interview technique, collect useful information and receive
formative (oral) feedback on their interview performance.

Video of Accounts manager Interviews (lecture theatre)

1. Play bad interview and ask students to identify poor technique
2. Play good interview and ask students to identify improvements, in particular the structure (general
situation to client problems, to impact of those problems and the value of resolving them)
3. Students can borrow copies of the video to extract information about the Accounts department
requirements.

Role Play interviews

1. Collect role play advice guides for your role as Managing Director or Sales Manager.
2. Use the Interview checklist during interview to determine if they have elicited the appropriate (complete)
information, have all taken part, followed a systematic structure, and behaved professionally.
3. Ask them to self assess (briefly) their impression of their performance.
4. Provide oral feedback at end of interview based on your notes.

Grading Criteria: Pass Good Pass Excellent

Communication:
Asks clear questions in Clear structure to interview, Includes checkpoint
C2 Collect appropriate
logical manner, mostly open follows up answers with more summaries, uses suitable
information in a structured
questions. detailed exploration. interview model.
manner during an interview.

Week 3
Aim: Today the aim is for students to review and finalize their requirements specification and to conduct a
preliminary team reflection on performance.

Resources:
• Group work checklist for reflection

During facilitated PBL team meeting

1. Ask them to explain their requirements and to identify any weaknesses and corresponding actions
2. Conduct discussion about group performance, using the group work feedback sheet.
3. Team to provide constructive feedback to team leader.
4. Elect leader for next PBL case.
5. Ask them to identify and document points for improvement
6. Refer them to the assessment criteria for the requirement specification

Grading Criteria: Pass (threshold) Good Pass (GP) Excellent

Comprehensive list of functional
Key appropriate functional
Most requirements identified and non-functional
LO2 Critically analyse the and non-functional
correctly and in appropriate requirements unambiguously
requirements for a small- requirements correctly
format, and prioritised and correctly identified and in
scale network. identified and in appropriate
appropriately. appropriate format, and
format.
prioritised appropriately.

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Planning Sheet – Week 1 Team Name:

Learning Issues/ tasks:

Issue/ Task Who Target date

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

Figure 7.4: Example planning sheet

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