Problem Based Learning

and its application to Engineering

Professor Norman Wood
Manchester School of Engineering
April 2003

Background
MSE formed in 1994 from 4
departments
Mechanical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Aeronautical Engineering
Civil Engineering

Background
Developments since 1997
Establishment of MCCCE with UMIST
Amalgamation of elements of Electrical
Engineering with Computer Science
MSE has become primarily Aerospace and
Mechanical Engineering

Background
The financial status of the School is heavily
dependent upon student numbers and RAE
Grade.
The University of Manchester has made a
commitment to be a research led institution.
This stimulated a thorough review of our
undergraduate provision in addition to other
activities focused upon research.

Key Issues
The needs of Industry were being
reiterated to us as being:
Group working skills
Communication skills
Problem solving skills
Independent learning
Time management skills

Key Issues
The skill base of the student intake had
changed and they exhibited:
A lack of numeracy
A lack of literacy
An inability to solve previously unseen problems

As a result, they were increasingly poorly

equipped for a traditional undergraduate
teaching programme

Key Issues
The challenge to MSE was to improve
our research activity standing while also
dealing with the critical issue of
improving our teaching quality.
A number of staff had been at
Manchester for many years even
changes to traditional teaching methods
were poorly received!

Outcome
A decision was taken to consider radical
change to our teaching profile to enable
a step change in our circumstances and
more successfully meet the strategic
vision for the MSE.
Amongst a number of options, Problem
Based Learning appeared a viable
alternative.

What is PBL?
Problem Based Learning is intended to
develop a student led learning
environment that results in deep
learning.
It attempts to break the listen,
remember, assess, forget cycle of
education.

What is PBL?
PBL is dependent upon the establishment of
a strong group working and support culture.
Students are instructed how to run meetings,
take minutes, chair a meeting, etc.
Staff act as Facilitators to support the working
process and environment, and thereby, the
acquisition of knowledge.

What is PBL?
Within Engineering, PBL was seen to
offer an opportunity for skill
development although it has also been
successfully applied to Masters level
units in which the acquisition of
knowledge was paramount.
It is used extensively by the Medical and
Dentistry Schools

What is PBL?
Our implementation uses a 7 step process.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Understand the problem

Recall knowledge applicable to the problem
Formulate questions that may enable the problem to
be solved
Gather knowledge and generate understanding
Check to see if problem can be solved and if not,
return to step 3
Demonstrate a solution to the problem
Reflect upon the experience

What is PBL?
Problem Based Learning is what
professional engineers and researchers
do in their everyday life!

What is PBL?
PBL is not PROJECT based learning.
Problem based learning requires the
acquisition, synthesis and application of
new knowledge while PROJECT based
learning is usually just the application of
knowledge previously acquired.

Outcome
MSE made a commitment to consider
the development of a new suite of
undergraduate programmes that used
PBL as the primary teaching and
learning strategy.

Considerations
Resources
Staff loading
Staff training
Impact on student learning experience
Methods of assessment
Professional Accreditation

New UG Programmes
Overall view of UG programme
Acquisition of
Knowledge
Acquisition of
skills

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year by Year Themes

Year 1: Learning to Learn
Year 2: Design as the Integrator
Year 3: Professional Engineer
Year 4: Research and specialisation
These should be consistent with and be
driven by the Aims and Objectives.

Programme flexibility
Year 1 is common to all Aero/Mech
programmes.
Year 2 splits into separate Aerospace
and Mechanical streams.
Year 3 and 4 are specific to each of the
five main degree programmes.
BEng students undertake an identifiably
different third year.

Year 1 Timetable
Semester

Week

Electric Motor

Design with
Pro-Engineer

7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14

Programming

Rollercoaster

Electronics

Assessment

Statics and Dynamics

Space Frame

Thermofluids

Mathematics

IT

Professional Engineer

Design

Rocket

Structured Learning Units

Mechatronics

PBL activity

Year 1 Timetable
Semester

Week

7
2

8
9
10
11
12
13,14
15,16

Powerful Bubbles

IR Link

Formula student

Powerplant

Assessment

Statics and Dynamics

Thermofluids

Renewable Energy

Mathematics

Professional Engineer

Hovercraft

Design

Structured Learning Units

Mechatronics

PBL activity

Year 1 Assessment Matrix

PBL activities
Rollercoaster, Hovercraft etc..
Units of
Assessment
Group skills
Personal skills
Statics and Dynamics
Thermofluids
Etc..

Year 1: Structured Learning

Each is a 3 hour session consisting of:
A short introductory lecture
A series of individual example sheets
A further short lecture
A Group problem to be handed in at the end of the
session

They are not related to the particular PBL

problem but they reinforce material and the
PBL process.

Year 2 Assessment Matrix

Design Challenges

Units of
Assessment
Group skills
Personal skills
Aircraft Structures
Performance
Etc..

Wing Design,
Flight Control Systems etc..

Year 2 Timetable
Year 2 consists of four, six-week long
design challenges plus examinations.
Each design challenge is a selfcontained, coordinated activity of PBL
and structured learning sessions.
In parallel, students undertake more
traditional learning in four design,
management and business units.

Year 3 and 4
These two years appear similar to our
previous programmes.
Staff are permitted to utilise the most
appropriate teaching method for the aims and
objectives of the units.
Staff are encouraged to build upon the skills
developed within the students during the first
two years of the programme.

Year 1 Implementation
All PBL activities follow a single template
Four 1 hour facilitated sessions (Mon, Thur, Mon,
Thur)
An individual formative worksheet and test
(Thursdays)
A Group assessment
An assessment of personal development
Six structured learning sessions
An academic as a PBL manager/expert

PBL Template
Week 1

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Introduction
to Problem
am

First
Facilitated
session

Expert
Session

Design
Workshop
classes

Second
Facilitated
session

Friday

Group
Working

Formative
worksheet

Group
Working
pm

Maths

Thursday

Mechatronics

Interim
Group
Assess.

PBL Template
Week 2

am

Monday

Third
Facilitated
session

Group
Working
pm
Workshop
classes

Tuesday

Expert
Session

Wednesday

Thermofluids

Thursday

Final
Facilitated
session

Friday

Group
Working

Individual
Test

Statics and
Dynamics

Prof.
Engineer

Group
Assess.

Sample Problem
The No Fear roller-coaster in the Moss-Side Fantasy-Land and Cyber-City
was recently opened by Brooklyn and Romeo Beckham. It is the largest
roller-coaster in Europe. During the first day of operation, an incident
occurred where one of the cars was damaged. Fortunately, the car
remained on the track and although the occupants in the fully laden car (all
members of the University Sumo Wrestling team) were badly shaken,
there were no serious injuries.
The front axle of the car concerned was found to be bent, but had not broken.
No other damage was visible. Police have ruled out the possibility of
vandalism. Manufacturing defects have also been eliminated as a
possible cause.
The ride has been shut down pending an investigation into the accident. The
owners are anxious to determine the cause of the accident so that their
biggest attraction is up and running as soon as possible.

Questions that should arise after the

first facilitated session
What caused the failure?
What is the relationship between the velocity and normal acceleration of
the car and the loads and resulting stress acting on the axle?
How do you determine the loads acting on the car?
What effect do the material properties and dimensions of the axle have
on the critical stress values?
How does the stress vary along the length of the axle?
What is the profile of the track? (INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED
ONCE REQUESTED)
What are the mass/dimensions of the car/axles/wheels and its
occupants? (INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED ONCE REQUESTED)
What materials are available for the axle and how much to they cost?
(INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED ONCE REQUESTED)

Learning Outcomes
Kinematics
Determination of equation governing velocity /
acceleration variation (and hence critical case) for
given track profile.
No air-resistance or friction (using conservation of energy and
derivation of equations of motion)
Including air-resistance
Including friction

Kinetics
Determination of loads from calculated acceleration
using Free Body Diagram - maximum loads

Learning Outcomes
Statics
Concepts of yield, yield stress and permanent deformation.
Construction of Bending moment / Shear force diagram of
axle
Determination of second moment of area of circular crosssection solid and hollow
Calculation of bending stress for circular shaft
determination of maximum stress solid and hollow crosssections
Selection of the axle material based upon yield stress and
cost.

Learning Outcomes
Matlab
Calculation of numerical functions
Plotting of x-y graphs
Numerical solution of first order differential equations

Mathematics
Analytical solution of first order differential equations

Design
Determine axle dimensions to meet the load case
whist minimising cost.

Formative Test
Each Group is provided with an example
worksheet on the first Thursday. The Group
should work together to advance their
knowledge.
On the second Thursday individuals take a
short test that is based upon the material in
the formative worksheet.
The mark from this counts towards the
EW1120 Personal Studies unit.

Group Assessment
In each PBL, the Group is assessed on
its overall performance generally at the
end of week 1 and at the end of week 2.
The form of the assessment is varied
(report, presentation, web-site etc.)
Individuals are given a mark that uses
an electronic peer moderation system
that preserves the group mark.

Personal Development
Subsequent to each PBL, each student
submits a brief report to their Personal
Tutor and makes a short oral
presentation to the tutor group
regarding their individual development.
The mark from this counts towards
EW1130 Personal Development unit.

Facilitation
A good facilitator is a guide on the side
not the sage on the stage!
A good facilitator must allow a group to
deviate from the planned path.
A good facilitator will eventually say
very little during a session.
Facilitation takes no preparation and
does not require specialist knowledge.

Group Allocation
Groups are allocated pseudo-randomly
at the start of the year.
Students are not allowed to change
groups.
Groups are restructured at the start of
the second semester.
Groups are typically of 8 students.

Key Issues
Getting the problem statement right.
It is important to expend significant effort in
this including test runs on existing
students, experts and sixth formers.

Problems can be reused year after year.

Key Issues
Staff Training
Staff will be placed in an unfamiliar
environment in which they will feel insecure.
They may not be in control and they may not
have expert knowledge. This does not affect
the students provided the staff attitude is
correct!

Overall, staff loading does not appear to

increase.

Key Issues
Resources
Rooms
Library

books
Internet access
Rapid feedback of progress
Communication pathways (SSLC etc.)

Key Issues
Student Welfare
The group environment means that
students cant go missing for extended
periods of time. One in eight missing is
easier to detect than one in 120!
Some students will find the environment
too pressured and opt for the quiet life
sleeping in lectures.

Key Issues
Reaction time
Given the degree of difference between
this and any other engineering teaching
programme, the School must be able to
react quickly if things are not going
according to plan.

Key Issues
Student Support and Guidance
The students will need to be told that they
are learning! Many of them believe that
learning is gauged by the height of a pile of
notes! Students generally gain in
confidence after the first few weeks of the
year.

Key Issues
Leadership
Strong leadership is an absolute essential
for this to work. Given an opportunity to
deviate from change, most academics will
all too readily do so! The half way solution
will not be as effective.

Overall Outcomes
No detrimental impact on admissions.
Progression from year 1 has improved
from 75% to 86% in the first year of
PBL.
Provisional Accreditation has been
obtained from both the IMechE and the
RAeSoc.

Overall Outcomes
The second version of the first year has been
an improvement in terms of its consistency
and organisation.
The new second year builds upon processes
now established in the first year.
It has taken a lot of effort on behalf of a small
number of staff who have piloted the
programme through internal and external
review.

Overall Outcomes
It has become clear that no other
implementation of PBL would have
suited our requirements. We have had
to develop our own version based on
our aims and objectives. Ownership of
the programme by the staff is absolutely
vital.

Questions?