Choosing theme affected PBL

• Main Author: Iwan Zahar
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English
• Published: 2012
• Online Access: http://discol.umk.edu.my/id/eprint/8875/1/Choosing_Theme_affected_PBL.pdf; http://discol.umk.edu.my/id/eprint/8875/

Choosing a theme in PBL for photography criticism course was a problem, because lecturers had never thought photography criticism, students had a little prior knowledge about photo criticism, social issues and photo history, and also PBL had never been used in in Visual Communication Design, Tarumanagara University. The objective of the research was to design and developed problem-based learning for Tarumanagara student who were learning to interpret photographs. Structured observations, written questionnaires, and oral questionnaires, interviewed were used to gather in depth data of students ‘learning on how to interpret various photo’s themes. The action research conducted in 50 students from visual communication design, fifth semester, Tarumanagara University, Jakarta. The designs of problem based learning models in the first cycle was created as follows (1) prepared the learning materials and gave urban theme as a problem, prepare Barrett’s model criticism for delivery and assignments (2) delivered materials and assestments, presented problems and brainstrorming (3) described individual and group assignments (4) fasilitated student to interpret photographs (5) supervised student to combine data and discussed sub theme (6) provided feedback and summative evaluation. The second cycle used only the fifth and the sixth steps. Choosing the themes for PBL became important because the photo themes were interpreted to be the learning outcomes. PBL method made students became more active in discussion about photo interpretations and students learned new ways of learning. From all the results, choosing themes could affect PBL process, if the photo themes were all abstract pictures, student could not have feeling responds to photos. Therefore, the PBL would be not successful. I recommended to select the photo theme follow the history of photography. Themes which were developed by modernist photographers such as still life, landscape and portrait should be given in basic photographic course, and postmodernist themes should be given in the advanced course.