PBL Review: Step 2 (article: How to Buy a Car 101)

"How to Buy a Car 101" from Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School was a very interesting article. In the article the PBL assignment of buying a car is assigned. Students were told Mr. Jones needed to buy a car but he could only spend a certain amount of money a month. He also needed a dependable car because he drove a long way to work each day and his wife wants a car that looks nice. The students had to take this information and research to find Mr. Jones a car. The students were given 2 weeks to complete the project and then presented their choice to the class in a powerpoint. Local car dealerships also came to the school and showed students possible cars they may want to choose. This helped to make the PBL come even more to life for the students and peek their interest. The teacher was also able to cover 4 state standards from this one assignment. The article also felt the most beneficial aspect of the PBL was being able to draw students into the problem who normally get bored and detached from problems in the textbook. The article also gave tips for teachers who are doing a PBL for their classroom for the first time. It suggests that is a good idea to make an example of the final product so that you as a teacher understand the process. It also says to involve students in the making of the units for the future. If you ask what they are struggling with they will be able to help come up with ideas to help themselves. And finally the article says to not do the project for the students. PBL's make the teachers take a new role in the classroom and you have to try the best you can to let the students do the learning without taking it over from them.

I really liked this article and activity. I thought the activity was very interesting, especially for middle school students. They are beginning to get to the age of almost being able to drive so their interest in cars is increasing and this is a possible situation they could one day be in. Some ways I would maybe improve the activity is to try and have the students try and contribut more to the making of the problem, and also not to show them an example. I think it is a good idea for the teacher to do the problem themselves but they should not show it to the students. By doing this it takes away from the students own originality and almost makes it easier for them to complete the PBL. It was good that the teacher gave the students a set deadline for the PBL and it seems the teacher did a good job of sitting back some and letting the student direct the classroom more for the project. The teacher was able to point the students in the right direction for resources and this helped the students to be successful. I think this was a very strong activity for problem-based learning because it used a real-life situation, made the students figure out what they knew and needed to know, truly figure out the problem, find numerous cars that could be a solution, and then decide on the best one for the problem. There is no set right or wrong answer but the students can still be successful for the project.

Flores, C.A. (2006). How to buy a car 101. Mathematics teaching in the middle school 12(3), 161-164.