Applying Problem-Based Learning (PBL)
in Literature Courses
Background
"Based on a True Story": PBL in an Introductory Literature Course
http://www.cfkeep.org/html/snapshot.php?id=76560535
- Summary of research project headed by Jeffrey Sommers of Miami University - Middletown.
“The Hegemony of the Final Exam: Problem-Based Learning in the Literature Classroom” by Jeffrey Sommers, Miami University – Middletown
http://www.doit.gmu.edu/inventio/main.asp?pID=spring05&sID=somers
- Article from Inventio, a journal featuring research on the scholarship of teaching and learning.
PBL Clearinghouse: University of Delaware
https://chico.nss.udel.edu/Pbl/
- Browse by the Discipline of English to locate relevant sample problems.
PBL Insight: Article List
http://www.samford.edu/pbl/articlelist.html
- Articles from the PBL Insight newsletter, published Samford University, featuring some relevant articles. See Volume 5, #1: “PBL and ‘the real world’ of literature” and Volume 4, #1: “National teaching fellows: re-writing PBL for literary studies at the University of Manchester.”
Putting Problem Based Learning in Literature
http://www.colostate-pueblo.edu/today/live_viewStory.asp?documentID=237
- Article by Dr. Katherine Frank Dvorsky of Colorado State University – Pueblo (see examples of Dr. Dvorsky’s assignments below).
Re-writing Problem-based Learning for Literary Studies
http://www.cdtl.nus.edu.sg/link/Jul2002/pbl3.htm
- Article from professors at the University of Manchester (UK) on research into incorporating PBL into an eighteenth-century literature course.
Examples
Jewish-American Literature & Culture (American Studies Seminar) http://academic.reed.edu/english/Courses/English303PL/Syllabus.html
- Syllabus includes four PBL exercises. Created by Laura Leibman of Reed College.
American Passages: A Literary Survey
http://www.learner.org/amerpass/
- Numerous classroom tools to enhance the study of American Literature in cultural context. Includes examples of PBL exercises that can be applied for the study of particular American literary movements. Developed through a partnership between Oregon Public Broadcasting and W.W. Norton & Company.
Faculty Homepage: Katherine Frank Dvorsky
http://faculty.colostate-pueblo.edu/katherine.frank/index.htm
- Dr. Katherine Frank Dvorsky of Colorado State University – Pueblo provides examples of PBL exercises, including courses on Literature of England and Victorian Domesticity.
Library Resources
The following resources have features that can be particularly useful for problem-based literature assignments. They can all be accessed from the alphabetical list on the Indexes & Databases page of the University Libraries Web site.
http://www.libraries.uc.edu/research/articles/indexes_data.php
(Library Homepage > Article Resources (under QuickLINKS) > Indexes & Databases)
Culturegrams: Culturegrams online includes the World edition with 182 country reports including information on the culture and customs, maps, statistics, images and sound files. This database is useful for a superficial look at cultural differences. *For some database fun, check out the “greetings, gestures, dating & marriage” entries for the United States.
Expanded Academic ASAP: This general interest database provides access to articles from over 500 full-text journals in all disciplines. If you start with a broad subject search (e.g. “baseball”) and then “Narrow by subdivision” you will find articles on everything from baseball “history” to “religious aspects,” and even a few articles under the subdivision “baseball in Iraq.” Expanded Academic will frequently find articles when Academic Search Premier does not.
LitFinder: Litfinder offers access to more than 135,000 full-text poems, stories, plays and more. Resources can be accessed thematically, for example a basic search for the theme “baseball” produces 2407 poems (776 of them in full text), 19 essays and 97 stories. Speeches and plays are also available. Searches can be refined by genre, nationality, timeline etc. *Students can examine how the same subject might be handled differently by authors of different nationalities, or from different time periods (How does American love poetry differ from African love poetry?) This is a very easy database to search, with a wealth of full text material.
Literature Online (LION): Literature Online is a fully searchable library of more than 350,000 works of English and American poetry, drama and prose, 128 full-text literature journals, and other key criticism and reference resources. “Poets on Screen” features poets reading their own works, or classic poetry. “Information Centre” features links to teaching resources. “Criticism & Reference” can be searched thematically.* One of Barb’s personal favorites for sheer volume and variety.
Literature Resource Center: Includes Gale’s Contemporary Authors Online; Contemporary Literary Criticism Select; and Dictionary of Literary Biography Online. The database also includes selected full-text, excerpted, and commissioned critical material from Gale's respected Literature Criticism and For Students Series. The “Literary Historical Timeline” can be useful for placing works in historical context.
Digital Video Collection (OhioLINK): The (OhioLINK) Digital Video Collection currently contains over 1,100 videos, including videos for drama and poetry. These are available both for viewing and for downloading.
Xreferplus: Xreferplus is an online reference collection that features full-text, cross-searchable content from over 200 titles and 50+ publishers, covering every major subject. The content is enriched with images, sound files, maps and customizable data tables. *The concept mapping feature here can be inspirational, and, according to Pam, a heck of a lot of fun.