Problem-Based Learning

At the Division conference in Toronta, Canada in May 2001, ?? and ?? (I have Stepier, Gallager and ??) presented ideas about how their use a problem-based learning format in their graduate course on stuttering. The suggested steps are to

• Present the Problem Statement - withholding critical data and information
• Students list what is known - answer the question "What do we know?"
• Students then list what is needed - answer the question "What do we need to find out?"
• Students then explore posible actions - recommendations, solutions - answer the question "What should we do?"
• The solution is presented.

Three examples of problems were shared

1. Problem 1 - You are beginning a fluency evaluation with a 3 year old. Prior to working with the child, you interview parents to obtain a history. When you ask them what they expect from the exaluation, they say they want to know whether their daughter's disfluent speech is "normal." They add that if she is "stuttering" they'd like to know whether or not she'll "outgrow it."
2. Problem 2 - You have just completed the evaluation of a 3 year old girl. The information you've obtained leads you to conclude that she exhibits a stuttering problem. They parents ask, "Why does our child stutter?"
3. Problem 3 - You are an SLP working with a 30 year old man who stutters. He reports that he experiences "total fluency" when he sings, or when he reads along in church. He also states that he knows he is going to stutter on words beginning with /p/ and /b/ and that he is usually right. He adds that. . . .

• Additional questions of the week that may be used to explore stuttering are shared by Judy Kuster