[Efstathoula Vangeli]

The era that we currently leave in is called “The Information Age” due to the unlimited amount of information that we have access to in our everyday life. The young adults (ages between 13 and 18) and the children that were born in the two last decades take all this information for granted, ignoring the process of gaining it, during which the actual learning is happening. In Greece, the children are no exception to this. On top of that the educational system is complicated and demanding, promoting a get-good-grades attitude without being interested in how. Long story short, Greek schools produce adults who just echo what they were told but not having a clue for what they actually saying.
A solution to this problem maybe lies with the Problem – Solving Learning approach. Firstly, a PBL challenge can engage the students by acting as a break from normal lessons and it can keep the class involved by being unique and original. Is really important, though, that they are presented with real-life scenarios so they will develop skills they can transfer to real-world scenarios. In order to solve the challenge, the students have to discuss and answer questions, which leads to understand deeply the subject or to remember it. This has a result the improvement of their abilities to retain and recall information.
While you can modify the learning style (different activities, way of research etc.) and the means (videos, audio recordings, articles etc.) in PBL, usually dividing the students in teams is preferred. Grouping students will allow them to address real-life issues that require solutions by expressing themselves, developing listening skills and challenge each other in a constructive manner. They will develop a sense of responsibility to do their part, they learn to pe punctual with timetables and, in general, improve their teamwork. It can also be really beneficial to students who don’t cope with working alone and involve as individuals through presenting their ideas to a team, defending and revising them when needed.

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