Faculty Facilitator Strategies

“…it’s not always easy to be comfortable in a space created by open questions. Agoraphobia can set in. It’s tempting to hide in small rooms built from quick answers.” – Merlin Sheldrake, Entangled Life

Understanding and clearly articulating the roles of both faculty and students in PBL is vital to successful implementation. In contrast to traditional roles and responsibilities, faculty become facilitators of learning versus deliverers of information and students become increasingly self-directed. Working in small, collaborative groups, students move through the PBL process with the facilitator’s guidance. Facilitators probe for deeper understanding and support student-driven initiatives by facilitating group discussion, creating an environment where all learners feel comfortable contributing, modeling behavior, providing feedback, and monitoring the group’s progress (Duch et al., 1997).

Transitioning from a more traditional teaching role to PBL facilitator can be a challenging shift for faculty, as the overarching goal is to strategically guide students versus providing the group with a direct answer. Similarly, students new to the PBL pedagogy can demonstrate resistance to the approach if positive learning behaviors are not consistently encouraged (Ghani et al., 2021).

Hmelo-Silver and Barrows (2006) present the following facilitation strategies:

Strategy	Purpose	Example
Use of open-ended, metacognitive questioning, and pushing for an explanation	Encourages explanations and recognition of knowledge limitations. Constructs causal models	“Tell us more about that.” “What led you to that decision?” “What causes…” “Why do you feel that is important?”
Revoicing	Clarifies ideas. Recognizes the value of ideas of all students. Marks ideas as important and subtly influence direction of discussion.	“I heard several of you reference <insert idea/topic> multiple times, yet it seems as though you have eliminated it. You’re talking about <insert correct term/idea/topic>, right?
Summarizing	Ensures representation of problem. Involves less vocal students. Helps students synthesize information/data. Moves group along the process. Reveals facts that students consider to be important.	“Jim, will you summarize what we know now about this information? And do it as though you are describing it to a client and/or someone who has not been a part of these conversations.” Followed by: “Does everyone feel this summary includes all pertinent information?”
Generate/evaluate hypotheses	Helps students focus their inquiry. Examines fit between hypotheses and accumulating evidence.	“Can you tell me more about what <subject/idea> is?” Followed by: “Are you all comfortable with that <subject/idea>? Was that description okay?”
Check consensus that documentation reflects discussion	Ensures all ideas are recorded/recognized and important ideas are not lost.	“Let’s revisit these ideas and discussion topics you have documented. Is this particular idea significant or not? Why?”
Creating learning issues	Recognizes knowledge gaps as opportunities to learn	“Do you think you know all that you need to related to that particular idea?”

References:

Duch, B.J., Allen, D.E., & White, III, H.B. (1997). Problem-based learning: Preparing students to succeed in the 21^st Century. Essays on Teaching Excellence Toward the Best in the Academy, 9(5). https://podnetwork.org/content/uploads/V9-N5-Duch.pdf

Ghani, A.S.A., Rahim, A.F.A., Yusoff, M.S.F., & Hadie, S.N.H. (2021). Effective learning behavior in problem-based learning: A scoping review. Medical Science Educator, 31, 1199-1211. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-021-01292-0

Hmelo-Silver, C.E. & Barrows, H.S. (2006). Goals and strategies of a problem-based learning facilitator. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 1(1), 21-39. http://dx.doi.org/10.7771/1541-5015.1004