Why use PBL?
Whether you are a trainer, supervisor or manager, we all have two goals when teaching
someone a new task, policy or skill. The first goal is to maximize retention. We need our
training to stick. We do not have an infinite amount of time to train someone, so we
want to make sure retention is high. Our second goal is to ensure transfer of knowledge.
We are in a profession full of grays. Very little of what we do is truly black or white. So,
it is impossible to train on every situation an employee might encounter and every
variable for that situation. The best that we can do is provide a foundation that the
employee can build upon to respond to new situations and new variables.
Traditional training is content driven. Now more than ever before, we ask our new hires
or newly promoted individuals to learn mounds of information. How many times have
you heard a veteran say, “Wow, I’m sure glad I’m not starting out now, there is too
much to learn.” Many veterans wonder if they could survive today’s training programs
simply because of how much needs to be learned in such a short time.
Well the problem with a content driven approach is just that. We are not able to
significantly expand our length of training time to cover every little thing we need to
train on. A better approach is to give them a solid foundation that is anchored in
problem-solving, decision-making, and self-directed learning. That is what PBL does, it
provides the anchor to our foundation. With PBL, learners apply knowledge, not just
acquire it.