THE AALBORG PBL MODEL

GEORGIOS TRIANTAFYLLIDIS,

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

gt@create.aau.dk

DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE, DESIGN AND MEDIA TECHNOLOGY

AALBORG UNIVERSITY, DENMARK

Introduction

• Applied since AAU’s establishment in 1974

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• Students’ active role in the acquisition and creation of knowledge

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• Redefinition of the role of the teacher in the learning process

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• A problem as starting point of learning

One university – three campuses

AALBORG

– approximately 18,900 students and 2,900 staff

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COPENHAGEN

– approximately 2,660 students and 715 staff

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ESBJERG

– approximately 450 students and 46 staff

Aalborg University (AAU)

• Regional need for education, growth and employment
• Approx. 2,100 students and 250 researchers
• Humanities, social sciences, engineering and natural sciences
• Business collaboration = basis of AAU’s DNA
• Problem-based, project-organised learning (PBL)

AAU provides ”Knowledge for the World”

The answer to a regional challenge

1974

2022

• AAU makes up 10% of the Danish sector - measured on revenue
• 22,000 students and 2,332 researchers/teachers
• Humanities, Social Science, Engineering and Science, IT and Design and Medicine
• Education and business collaboration �across Denmark
• The preferred collaboration partner of the Danish business sector

• Internationally recognised for our problem and project based learning
• Interdisciplinary focus
• No. 34 i among the world’s best young universities (under 50 yrs) (Times Higher Education 2022)
• No. 4 among the world’s best engineering programmes (MIT report 2018)
• Best engineering university in Europe and No. 8 in the world (US News 2021 ranking)

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AAU facts

RESEARCH AND EDUCATION

STUDENTS

RESOURCES

• Humanities

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• Social Sciences

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• Medicine

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• Engineering and Science

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• IT and Design

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• 19,600 students (excl. part-time students)

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• 2,400 part-time students

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• 822 PhD students

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• 2,332 staff members in research and education
• Of which 710 international researchers

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• 1,329 administrative staff

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• Total budget of 3.2 billion DKK

(453 million US$)

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The AAU approach: synergy

RESEARCH

AAU

EDUCATION

INNOVATION

Developing new knowledge of relevance to the challenges of society

Developing new solutions across disciplines – and as co-creation between students, researchers and the wider world

Degree programmes based on the educational model Problem-Based Learning (PBL)

AAU STRATEGY�KNOWLEDGE FOR THE WORLD 2022-26

AAU knowledge for the world

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• All degree programmes and research activities at Aalborg University are problem and project-based and have an interdisciplinary focus.

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• Through strong interplay between staff and students and intense collaboration with public and private sectors, we offer degree programmes with a real-world approach and provide world-class research.

• This results in new insights, new solutions to societal challenges and knowledge that changes the world.

AAU vision 2026

We are internationally recognised as a mission-oriented university that contributes to sustainable development.

• Outstanding foundational, transformative and interdisciplinary research.
• Graduates with in-depth, discipline-specific knowledge and a focus on holistic thinking
• Developing our problem- and project-based learning model with a focus on e.g., digitalization and entrepreneurship
• An attractive partner for private companies and public sector authorities and institutions.
• Sustainability is a central theme.

AAU learning process

STUDENTS

TEACHING

EXTERNAL COLLABORATION

RESEARCH

OUR LEARNING MODEL: PBL

A bit of history and international context

A number of PBL universities and educations started to emerge in the 60-70’s

• Maastricht University, The Netherlands
• Linköping University, Sweden
• McMaster University, Canada
• Newcastle University, Australia
• Roskilde University, Denmark (1972)
• Aalborg University, Denmark (1974)

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Particularly the McMaster University became an inspiration in relation to PBL in medical education

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Similar thoughts among the universities, although uncertainty about the relations / inspirations

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A particular Danish approach started to emerge in the 70s – combining problem and project based learning – was related to the social and cultural changes at that time

PBL – No project

PBL & Project

PBL at AAU

Education of the future:

• Skills development along with knowledge
• Critical Thinking, Innovation and Creativity embedded in our education system
• Building global knowledge networks
• Employability

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PBL can be an important role in achieving these!

The AAU model: Problem and Project based learning

• Knowledge and learning is created by the students – not given to the students

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• Students are encouraged to solve a problem – they learn through problem solving

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• Students complete a project in group

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• Students have an academic supervisor who assists them in the project process, challenges and discusses their ideas, and provides feedback on their project work

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• Students document their work in a project report which is the subject of an oral (group) examination

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The PBL process

Problem analysis

Problem solving

Report / Documentation

Literature

Lectures

Group work

Tutorials

Field studies

Experiments

Model from The Aalborg PBL model - Progress, Diversity and Challenges�Anette Kolmos, Flemming K. Fink & Lone Krogh

The PBL Aalborg model

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Courses 5 ECTS

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50%�courses

50%�project

�Courses 5 ECTS

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Project 15 ECTS

One semester

1 ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) = 30 working hours

�Courses 5 ECTS

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One semester – half year

Group based project assessment

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Individual assessment

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Individual assessment

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Individual assessment

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The PBL Aalborg model

• Self organised groups

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• Project management

Group Work

Each project group is allocated working space, typically a group room.

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The working space is equipped with one or two computers and network access. Access to printer facilities etc.�

Student working spaces are located in the same buildings as teachers’ offices etc.�

24 hour access.

The PBL learning principles

Learning

Problem based

Cases or Projects

Contextual learning

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Social

Participant directed

Team based learning

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Content

Interdisciplinary learning

Exemplary learning

Theory-practice relation

Research methodology

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Curriculum

• Courses and project work are theme-related

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• Courses support the project work

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• The majority of course credits are offered in the early weeks of the term

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• Use of Moodle as a virtual learning environment (VLE)

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Workflow in a typical semester

The PBL approach

Every semester is set within a ‘thematic framework’ e.g. ‘databases and embedded systems’, ‘regional tourism’, ‘ICT and learning for sustainable development’

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Thematic frameworks are broad, but also helps sharpen the focus of the students’ projects

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Courses are developed and taught with reference to the theme of the semester

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Some courses are ‘Project Courses’ – meant to support project work Others are ‘Study Courses’ with own assessment and exam (for general knowledge and skills)

An example: Medialogy (Bsc)

Project work structure

INTRODUCTION

Getting a grip on the problem area - define the problem area - state how a new approach might be relevant - ends with the Initial Problem Statement

ANALYSIS

Description of the problem - target group - a user study - related research/background work - state of the art (related commercial/academic work) - technical possibilities - how to evaluate/test (what methods do others use?) - early prototype test? - ends with the Final Problem Statement + Design Requirements

METHODS

What overall strategy will you use to answer the FPS?

DESIGN

Consider different solutions – design a solution

IMPLEMENTATION

Development of the solution – prototyping

EVALUATION

Purpose of the test, test setup, procedure, results, discussion of results

DISCUSSION

Answering the FPS – findings – importance of the work

CONCLUSIONS

Summing up – future directions

Students

• Self-motivation and personal responsibility for learning
• Acquire project management skills that enable the timely and successful completion of projects
• Learn to negotiate and address the inevitable conflicts that arise in collaborative work
• A strong culture of collaboration and high level of support for one another
• Actively participate in institutional assessment and evaluation processes

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Supervisor

• Advisor or facilitator

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• Resource for groups of students engaged in project work

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• Each student group has one or more supervisors for a project

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• Supervisor-group relationships do not extend beyond the duration of the project

Assessment of students

• Censors (co-examinators) are present during all examinations

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• Study courses are assessed according to clearly documented policies and procedures (oral or written exam, pass/fail or grade, internal or external censor)

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• Use of 7-scale grading (12, 10, 07, 04, 02, 00, -03)

Assessment of group project work

• Students’ group project work is conducted in a group setting
• The group’s supervisor is conducting the exam together with a censor
• Examiners explore not only the quality of the project work itself, but also the extent to which students have achieved the broader learning objectives
• Students receive differentiated individual grades

PBL competences

PBL projects

Problem Based Learning at AAU

WHY HOLD ON �TO PBL?�

• Students learn best when they are actively participating and apply theory and research-based knowledge to problem solving
• This learning model supports the development of students' communication and collaboration skills
• Students learn to take an analytical and result-oriented approach to their work
• PBL provides students with tools for independent acquisition of knowledge at an advanced academic level
• PBL provides students with the opportunity to cooperate with external partners on solving specific problems
• More info at: http://www.aau.dk/digitalAssets/62/62747_pbl_aalborg_modellen.pdf

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AAU study activity model

THANK YOU