In addition to the content objectives, problem-based learning has some distinctive educational objectives that frequently go unsaid or don't exist for other course formats.  In order that you may more fully appreciate the goals of this course and reflect on whether or not the goals are being addressed by the method, the goals are listed below with some commentary.

Individual Knowledge: Due to your search for information related to each case study problem, you will learn interesting, important, and often peripheral things known to no other person in the class, including the instructor.  You may never be tested on this knowledge but this knowledge makes you unique and provides you with expertise that you can use and share with others.

Common Knowledge: This is a course in biochemical evolution.  As you pursue individual problems, you will need to learn general concepts that everyone in the class should encounter and learn.  For example, at this point, most students should have a much better understanding of the following words and concepts than they had four weeks ago when the course started.
 

homologous characters      principle of parsimony      phylogeny
analogous characters         convergent evolution        endosymbiosis
derived traits                    divergent evolution           aposematic
primitive traits                  parallel evolution              chemical taxonomy
orthologous proteins         paralogous proteins           molecular clock hypothesis
monophyletic                   plesiomorphic                  apomorphic

In addition, each student should have a better sense of the evolutionary ancestry of humans and its relation to the age of the earth.

Library Research Skills: The library is a wonderful and powerful resource.  Many students graduate without discovering or learning how to use the library effectively.  By now you should have some skill at locating books and other resources, but your skill at locating scientific articles and tracking down specific information should continue to improve through the semester.

Critical-Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills: Knowledge is of little use if it is memorized and never applied.  You should be learning to recognize differences in the quality of arguments and be learning to challenge weak arguments or unsupported assertions.  You should be working to define your own knowledge gaps in relation to the case study problems so that you are able to pursue specific information efficiently.

Communication Skills: You should be gaining experience in conveying ideas to others in ways that they understand clearly what you mean.  This involves assessing other people's background, listening, using words with precise meaning, explaining the same thing in different ways, and learning to use analogies effectively.  How you communicate in writing to the instructor is different that the way you brainstorm within your group.

Interpersonal Skills: Within your group, different members have different personalities, strengths, and weaknesses that you appreciate already.  Perhaps you have already experienced conflict of some sort.  Conflict is normal in groups.  How well your group manages conflict and directs it into productive directions will bear on the ultimate success of your group.  Ignoring problems is not sufficient because that usually results in resentment and bigger problems later.

From time to time each group should engage in an open and honest discussion of how it has functioned and how it can work even better. Are there differences between your group and individual approaches to the past two case studies? If so, reflect on the differences. Are all members contributing conscientiously?

Return to:    Page 1: Blood Brothers
              Page 2: Using Hemoglobin to Track Blood Lines
              Page 3: Reliability of Molecular Phylogenies