j0m sElawAt...

sebelum baca ni cubalah klik play video kat bawah nie...konfrm xruginya..klik je....

Sesiapa yang berselawat tidak kiralah banyak mana, hitunganya setiap hari akan dapat keberkatan dalam apa jua dengan syarat ia berusaha mencari keredhaanNya. 

Munurut As-Shawi, sesiapa yang membaca selawat secara rutin, akan terpelihara hatinya daripada gangguan serta tipudaya syaitan yang melalaikan.

Jiwa yang gelisah dapat ditenangkan dengan zikir, termasuklah berselawat sekerap yang mungkin kerana ALLAH itu Maha Luas rahmatNya.

Sesiapa yang sering mengamalkan berselawat pada setiap hari, ALLAH akan bukakan pintu rahmat dan rezeki yang tidak disangka-sangka baginya.

Ulamak berpendapat, sesiapa yang amalkan selawat saban hari tak kira berapa hitungannya, InsyaALLAH dihindarkan daripada taun & wabak penyakit berbahaya yang lain.

Menurut Sayyid Ahmad Dahlan, sesiapa berselawat  walau sekali pada malam jumaat, saat mautnya kelak akan dipermudahkan ALLAH seperti yang dihadapi oleh para nabi.

Sesiapa yang mengamalkan membaca selawat tiga kali setiap selepas solat lima waktu akan dihilangkan kebuntuan fikiran dalam menghadapi apa jua permasalahan. 

Menurut Syihab Ahmad, sesiapa berselawat tiga kali tiap selesai solat subuh, Maghrib dan isyak, ALLAH akan menghindarkannya daripada sebarang bencana. 

Setiap penyakit ada penawarnya. Bacalah selawat tujuh  kali pada air dan minum. InsyaALLAH, perut yang sakit atau memulas akan sembuh dan juga penyakit lain. insyaALLAH.... 

Sesiapa yang membaca selawat sebanyak tujuh kali selama tujuh Jumaat berturut-turut, ia bakal mendapat syafaat (pertolongan) daripada baginda SAW. 

Membaca selawat 10 kali pada setiap waktu pagi dan petang akan memperolehi keredhaan serta dijauhkan diri daripada mendapat kemurkaan ALLAH SWT.

Menurut para ulamak, sesiapa yang inginkan saat kematiannya dalam kesudahan yang baik, maka berselawatlah sebanyak 10 kali setiap selesai solat Maghrib. 

ALLAH akan hapuskan dosa-dosa kecil dengan kita dgn mengamalkan berselawat sebanyak 11 kali tiap kali selesai menunaikan solat fardu. Selain itu, dengan izin ALLAH dirinya akan lebih dihargai oleh orang lain. 

Berselawat 33 kali sehari dapat menjernihkan hati, mudah memahami akan sesuatu ilmu yang diajarkan, di samping itu beroleh ketenangan fikiran. 

Para ulamak berpendapat, ALLAH sempurnakan hajat yang baik dengan senantiasa berselawat 40 hingga 100 kali setiap hari, di ikuti dengan usaha yang berterusan.

Ada riwayat yang menyatakan bahawa amalan berselawat 80 kali tiap selepas solat asar pada hari jumaat, insyaALLAH akan dihapuskan dosa-dosa kecil seseorang. 

Sabda Nabi SAW: Barangsiapa yang berselawat kepadaku sebanyak 100 kali pada hari jumaat, maka ia akan datang pada hari kiamat dengan keadaan bercahaya - Abu Naim> 

Amalkan membaca selawat sebanyak 1000 kali sehari, insyaALLAH akan di kurniakan kebijaksanaan pemikiran. Di samping itu berusahalah untuk menerokai pelbagai ilmu. Selain itu, ALLAH akan memeliharanya daripada sebarang ancaman musuh serta bahaya fitnah.

Membaca selawat 1000 kali selepas Solat Hajat dua rakaat mampu menghilangkan keresahan, rasa dukacita serta dikabulkan ALLAH akan hajatnya. 

Amalan berselawat secara teratur setiap hari mampu membersihkan kekeruhan jiwa, dipermudahkan ALLAH segala urusan dan mendapat keampunan daripadaNYA.

marilah kite sama2 berselawat.....jom2..

gRafiTi.....

Menurut Wikipedia, Grafiti adalah coretan-coretan pada dinding yang menggunakan komposisi warna, garis, bentuk, dan volume untuk menuliskan kata, simbol, atau kalimat tertentu. Alat yang digunakan pada masa kini biasanya cat semprot kaleng. Sebelum cat semprot tersedia, grafiti umumnya dibuat dengan sapuan cat menggunakan kuas atau kapur. 

Kebiasaan melukis di dinding bermula dari manusia primitif sebagai cara mengkomunikasikan perburuan. Pada masa dahulu, grafiti digunakan sebagai saranan mistisme dan spiritual untuk membangkitkan semangat memburu. Perkembangan kesenian di zaman Mesir kuno juga memperlihatkan aktiviti melukis di dinding-dinding piramid. Lukisan ini mengkomunikasikan alam lain yang ditemui seorang pharaoh (firaun) setelah dimumiakan.

Kegiatan grafiti menunjukkan lambang ketidakpuasan yang ditemui pada zaman Romawi dengan bukti adanya lukisan sindiran terhadap pemerintahan di dinding-dinding bangunan. Lukisan ini ditemukan pada runtuhan pada bangunan Kota Pompeii. Sementara itu, di Romasendi digunakan sebagai alat propaganda untuk mengurangkan pemeluk kristian yang pada zaman itu dilarang kaisar.

Difahamkan, perkataan grafiti berasal daripada bahasa Greek, ‘graphein’ yang bermaksud untuk menulis. Grafiti (atau bentuk mufrad, garfito) bermakna lukisan atau contengan pada permukaan yang mendatar. Pada asalnya, ia merujuk kepada tanda-tanda yang ditemui pada seni bina Roman kuno.

Pada perkembangan grafiti di sekitar tahun 70-an di Amerika dan Eropah akhirnya diteruskan ke wilayah Urban sebagai jati diri kumpulan yang tinggal di kota. Oleh kerana kurang pendedahan terhadap grafiti, ia telah dianggap sebagai lambangbagi merosakkan keamanan kota. Hal ini demikian kerana dianggap sebagai memprovokasikan perang diantara kumpulan. Selain dilakukan di tembok kosong, grafiti juga sering dilakukan di dinding kereta api bawah tanah.

Di Amerika Syarikat, setiap daerah negara sudah memiliki peraturan sendiri untuk menghalang grafiti. San Diego, California, New York telah memiliki undung-undang yang menetapkan bahawa grafiti adalah kegiatan ilegal. Bagi mengidentifikasilan pola pembuatan, grafiti dibahagikan kepada dua jenis.  

Grafiti adalah satu bentuk seni tampak kerana  pengkarya grafiti akan menghabiskan masa dan menggunakan daya kreativiti serta kemahirannya untuk menghasilkan karya yang boleh dinikmati oleh masyarakat umum. Grafiti juga ada sekadar dengan menulis nama kelompok, melukis karakter tertentu dan sebagainya. Elemen asas gfariti  adalah seperti ruangan umum sebagai kanvas seperti dinding bangunan atau dinding tembok, tin cat penyembur dan gaya penyampaiannya adalah gaya remaja.

Grafiti dianggap sebagai vandalisme pada awal-awal dahulu kerana merosakkan harta benda awam iaitu menconteng benda awam dan mencacatkan permandangan. Namun begitu, grafiti kini diiktifarkan kerana ia juga dapat dijadikan corak dan juga merupakan salah satu perhiasan umum.

Seni grafiti di Malaysia juga kini telah beransur diterima masyarakat yang dulu menganggap mereka ini melakukan aktiviti vandalisme. Grafiti akan mendedahkan orang ramai kepada kepelbagaian coraknya bermula dengan tanda seperti huruf yang ringkas sehinggalah rekaan yang menarik, kompleks dan berwarna-warni.

Fungsi grafiti ialah  bahasa rahsia kumpulan tertentu. Selain itu, grafiti melambangkan ekspresi ketidakpuasan terhadap keadaan sosial. Ia merupakan lembang pemberontakan pemberontakan dan ekspresi ketakutan terhadap situasi politik dan sosial negara.

Pendidikan kesenian yang kurang jelas menyebabkan objek yang sering muncul dalam grafiti seperti tulisan atau gambaran hanya akan difahami oleh golongan tertentu sahaja. Kebiasaan, karya grafiti menunjukkan ketidakpuasan terhadap keadaan sosial yang mereka alami. Meskipun grafiti pada umumnya bersifat merosak dan menyebabkan perbelanjaan yang tinggi dalam pemuliharaan kawasan tersebut, namun grafiti tetap merupakan ekspresi seni yang harus dihargai. Terdapat ramai pengkarya terkenal yang memulakan kariearnya daripada kegiatan grafiti.  

Tokoh grafiti

`Phiberweryte Connects` merupakan salah satu kumpulan yang menghasilkan grafiti di salah sebuah taman permainan di Seksyen 27 Shah Alam. Phiberweryte Connect diasaskan oleh Nuke dan Nenok sekitar tahun 2003, kumpulan ini boleh berbangga kerana hasil karya mula mendapat perhatian. Mereka bermula dengan bersahaja dan kini setelah hampir 7 tahun kumpulan remaja ini mengangkat seni ini secara profesional di mana karya mereka boleh ditemui di dinding jalanan sekitar Shah Alam. Ahli-ahli kumpulan yang namanya kian meningkat dalam persada seni grafiti tempatan seperti Askoe, Newba, Keas, Wazer, Rash dan Muhriz.

Salah seorang anggota Phiberweryte Connects, Syahmi Shahuri, 24 atau lebih dikenali sebagai `Keas` berpendapat dengan memberikan mereka ruang, semestinya karya-karya tersebut dapat diketengahkan dan dihayati oleh masyarakat. Malah ia mendedahkan kita kepada perbezaan antara grafiti dengan vandalisme.

Menurutnya grafiti mementingkan aspek kepakaran dalam contengan berbanding vandalisme yang lebih terdorong ke arah contengan yang dibuat dengan pantas atau tergesa-gesa yang biasanya dilakukan di tempat persendirian sebagai cara untuk meluahkan perasaan. Hal ini adalah kerana ideanya para pengkarya ingin masyarakat memahami dan menghayati seni ini di mana-mana sahaja berbanding seni-seni lain yang rata-ratanya dipamerkan di ruangan galeri.

Sementara itu, Zaqi Adnan atau lebih dikenali sebagai `Nuke` pula berpendapat 10 tahun ke hadapan sudah pastinya Malaysia mampu menghasilkan tenaga mahir dalam bidang ini dan mampu bersaing dengan lebih efektif lagi di  peringkat antarabangsa. Menurutnya, seni merupakan jalan terbaik untuk memberi inspirasi  kepada tamadun manusia. Sebagai contoh, antara karya-karya di barat  ditonjolkan di atas jalan raya dan juga di sepanjang  dinding tembok kaki lima.

Persepsi negatif  masyarakat mengenai seni grafiti dikaitkan dengan tindakan vandalisme sewajarnya dikikis. Sebaliknya ianya ialah satu seni yang menghasilkan karya untuk dinikmati segenap lapisan masyarakat. “Anak-anak muda  sepatutnya diberi ruang untuk menonjolkan bakat-bakat mereka” katanya.

seni grafiti ini seharusnya diteruskan dan diperkenalkan kepada masyarakat sebagai suatu proses mengindahkan sesuatu kawasan daripada nampak kosong supaya ia tidak dianggap hina oleh sesetengah masyarakat yang menganggapnya sebagai satu proses merosaakkan keindahan melalui contengan. Pengiktirafan daripada masyarakat ini akan meningkatkan seni grafiti malaysia ke peringkat antarabangsa sebagai satu kaedah menghilangkan tekanan dan suatu kaedah luahan perasan.

pEsan uNtuK "hAwA"

 

Setiap pagi kita harus bangun pagi sama ada bangun pukul 5, 5.30, 6 atau 6.30 adalah lebih baik jika bangun lebih awal dan elakkan dari terlebih tidur. Andai kata bangun pukul 6 pagi, buka saja mata ucapkanlah Alhamdulillah / doa selepas bangun tidur.

Kemudian:-
1. Lakukan sedikit senaman ringan. "jgn asyik sbut malas je..huhu"

2. Sebelum masuk bilik air minumlah segelas kecil air suam dan masuk bilik air. "petua org tua2 nak bg nmpak awex muda nie"

3. Lakukan pembersihan badan seperti mandi dan gosok gigi dengan betul. "msti buat betul2 taubiaq ttanggl smua air liuq basi tuh"

4. Untuk memulakan mandian, mula dari bawah kaki dibawa ke atas badan sehingga ke atas kepala. "jgn terbalikkn plak taw"

5. Selepas mandi biarkan seketika sambil lap badan dengan tangan sebelum menggunakan tuala. Selepas selesai mandi, kenakanlah dengan pakaian yang sesuai, bersih dan disertakan dengan bau-bauan wangi. Solat subuh dua rakaat dan berdoa. Kemudian buat persiapan diri sama ada untuk ke tempat kerja atau ke tempat belajar.  "lau xada kije  cari la kije bersih rumah ke ape ke...lalalala"

6. Ketika mengadap cermin, baca doa dan senyum selama 30 saat. "nie tuk nmpak awex muda jgak n dpt kuatkn keyakinan diri.."

7. Pastikan sarapan pagi tidak ditinggalkan. Sarapan pagi sangat penting untuk pembentukan rutin makanan sepanjang hari.  "kalu poce kne la sahur dulu taw..."

8. Pada tengah hari, makan tengah hari juga perlu dan tidak patut ditinggalkan. Biarpun sedikit, tapi ianya perlu ambil. "ingat tau usus dalaman pn kene jaga taw"

9. Ketika makan, janganlah makan bersulamkan air. Makan dahulu dan tunggu seketika sebelum minum air. Dan amalkan minum air yang banyak. Jangan  diselalukan minum air sejuk atau air batu. Sekali-sekala tak mengapa. "haa yg nie pnting tuk jga perut...nti xla nmpak muncit smacam je...huhu"

10. Selepas makan tengah hari, berkumurlah untuk membersihkan dalam mulut. "nk pastikan xder sisa mkanan terlekat kt celah2 gigi"

11. Selepas itu lakukan solat Zohor.  "wajib...solat juga mrupakan suatu senaman ringan"

12. Pada waktu petang hadapilah hidangan petang dengan meminum teh atau  kopi panas. Lakukan sedikit senaman ringkas atau senaman berat jika ada masa terluang. Lakukan senaman atau kerja yang mengeluarkan peluh selapas solat Asar.  "joging 1 round pn ok je...dh sminggu xjoging aku nie...huhu"

13. Kemudian pergi bersihkan diri dengan mandi. Lakukan mandian seperti  pagi tadi dan jangan lupa berus gigi.  "tp ingt taw jgn mandi slagi peluh xabis kluar slepas senaman ptg td"

14. Pada waktu malam, selepas solat Magrib, lakukan pembacaan Al-Quran. Paling kurang pun satu muka surat. Kemudian lakukan solat Isya. Ketika hendak masuk tidur, baca doa-doa ringkas. ! Sebelum tidur, cuci muka dan  berus gigi. "jgn tdoq tnpa berus gigi, basuh muka n kaki...nati xsaje2 dpt mimpi buruk"

15. Tidurlah pada waktu awal dan bangun untuk solat tahajut dua rakaat."cari yg sunat...jgn biaqkn hati slalu berbisik nanti2 la...2 bkn kata hati tp kata syaitan"

sama-sama lah kita mencubanya...aku pun dalam proses pcubaan nie...selalu je bangun awal lps 2 solat subuh n tidooq smula..hahaha bila nk brubah nie...mkn pn mcm wajib je kne pakai sulam2 nge air...cmner la prut xmuncit2 kn...huhuhu

kEistiMewaAn YasSin..

RASULULLAH s.a.w telah bersabda yang bermaksud:
"Bacalah surah Yassin kerana ia mengandungi keberkatan", iaitu: 

1. Apabila orang lapar membaca surah Yaasin, ia boleh menjadi kenyang. 

 
2. Jika orang tiada pakaian boleh mendapat pakaian. 

 
3. Jika orang belum berkahwin akan mendapat jodoh. 

 
4. Jika dalam ketakutan boleh hilang perasaan takut.

5. Jika terpenjara akan dibebaskan.
 

6. Jika musafir membacanya, akan mendapat kesenangan apa yang dilihatnya.
 

7. Jika tersesat boleh sampai ke tempat yang ditujuinya. 

 
8. Jika dibacakan kepada orang yang telah meninggal dunia, Allah meringankan siksanya. 

9. Jika orang yang dahaga membacanya, hilang rasa hausnya. 

 
10. Jika dibacakan kepada orang yang sakit, terhindar daripada penyakitnya.

11. Rasulullah s.a.w bersabda: "Sesungguhnya setiap sesuatu mempunyai hati dan hati al-Quran itu ialah Yassin. Sesiapa membaca surah Yassin,nescaya Allah menuliskan pahalanya seperti pahala membaca al-Quran sebanyak 10 kali. 

 
12. Sabda Rasulullah s.a.w lagi, "Apabila datang ajal orang yang suka membaca surah Yassin pada setiap hari, turunlah beberapa malaikat berbaris bersama Malaikat Maut. Mereka berdoa dan meminta dosanya diampunkan Allah, menyaksikan ketika mayatnya dimandikan dan turut menyembahyangkan jenazahnya". 

 
13. Malaikat Maut tidak mahu memaksa mencabut nyawa orang yang suka membaca Yaasin sehingga datang Malaikat Redwan dari syurga membawa minuman untuknya. Ketika dia meminumnya alangkah nikmat perasaannya dan dimasukkan ke dalam kubur dengan rasa bahagia dan tidak merasa sakit ketika nyawanya diambil. 

 
14. Rasulullah s.a.w bersabda selanjutnya: "Sesiapa bersembahyang sunat dua rakaat pada malam Jumaat, dibaca pada rakaat pertama surah Yaasin dan rakaat kedua Tabaroka. Allah jadikan setiap huruf cahaya di hadapannya pada hari kemudian dan dia akan menerima suratan amalannya di tangan kanan dan diberi kesempatan membela 70 orang daripada ahli rumahnya tetapi sesiapa yang meragui keterangan ini, dia adalah orang-orang yang munafik. 

marilah kita sama2 amalkan bacaan yassin setiap hari...

 

pRojecT BasEd LeaRninG

Project-based learning (PJBL): best defined as instruction relating questions and technology relative to the students' everyday lives to classroom projects. Students form their own investigation of their own group which allows students to develop valuable research skills. The students engage in design, problem solving, decision making, and investigative activities. It allows students to work in groups or by themselves and allows them to come up with ideas and realistic solutions or presentations. Students take a problem and apply it to a real life situation with these projects.

Project-based learning (PJBL) provides complex tasks based on challenging questions or problems that involve the students' problem solving, decision making, investigative skills, and reflection that include teacher facilitation, but not direction. Project Based Learning is focused on questions that drive students to encounter the central concepts and principles of a subject hands-on.

With Project-based learning students learn from these experiences and take them into account and apply them to their lives in the real world. PBL is a different teaching technique that promotes and practices new learning habits. The students have to think in original ways to come up with the solutions to these real world problems. It helps with their creative thinking skills by showing that there are many ways to solve a problem.

structure

Project-based learning(PjBL): is an approach for classroom activity that emphasizes learning activities that are long-term, interdisciplinary and student-centered. This approach is generally less structured than traditional, teacher-led classroom activities; in a project-based class, students often must organize their own work and manage their own time.

 Within the project based learning framework students collaborate, working together to make sense of what is going on. Project-based instruction differs from inquiry-based activity by its emphasis on collaborative learning. Additionally, project-based instruction differs from traditional inquiry by its emphasis on students' own artifact construction to represent what is being learned.

Elements

The core idea of project-based learning is that real-world problems capture students' interest and provoke serious thinking as the students acquire and apply new knowledge in a problem-solving context. The teacher plays the role of facilitator, working with students to frame worthwhile questions, structuring meaningful tasks, coaching both knowledge development and social skills, and carefully assessing what students have learned from the experience. Advocates assert that project-based learning helps prepare students for the thinking and collaboration skills required in the workplace.

Rigorous and in-depth Project Based Learning:

• is organized around an open-ended Driving Question or Challenge. These focus students’ work and deepen their learning by centering on significant issues, debates, questions and/or problems.
• creates a need to know essential content and skills. Typical projects (and most instruction) begin by presenting students with knowledge and concepts and then, once learned, give them the opportunity to apply them. PBL begins with the vision of an end product or presentation which requires learning specific knowledge and concepts, thus creating a context and reason to learn and understand the information and concepts.
• requires inquiry to learn and/or create something new. Not all learning has to be based on inquiry, but some should. And this inquiry should lead students to construct something new – an idea, an interpretation, a new way of displaying what they have learned.
• requires critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, and various forms of communication. Students need to do much more than remember information—they need to use higher-order thinking skills. They also have to learn to work as a team and contribute to a group effort. They must listen to others and make their own ideas clear when speaking, be able to read a variety of material, write or otherwise express themselves in various modes, and make effective presentations. These skills, competencies and habits of mind are often known as "21st Century Skills".
• allows some degree of student voice and choice. Students learn to work independently and take responsibility when they are asked to make choices. The opportunity to make choices, and to express their learning in their own voice, also helps to increase students’ educational engagement.
• incorporates feedback and revision. Students use peer critique to improve their work to create higher quality products.
• results in a publicly presented product or performance. What you know is demonstrated by what you do, and what you do must be open to public scrutiny and critique.

Project-based learning creates opportunities for groups of students to investigate meaningful questions that require them to gather information and think critically. Typical projects present a problem to solve (What is the best way to reduce the pollution in the schoolyard pond?); a phenomenon to investigate (Why is best way to stay on a skateboard?).

Roles

PBL relies on learning groups. Student groups determine their projects, in so doing, they engage student voice by encouraging students to take full responsibility for their learning. This is what makes PBL constructivist. Students work together to accomplish specific goals.

When students use technology as a tool to communicate with others, they take on an active role vs. a passive role of transmitting the information by a teacher, a book, or broadcast. The student is constantly making choices on how to obtain, display, or manipulate information. Technology makes it possible for students to think actively about the choices they make and execute. Every student has the opportunity to get involved either individually or as a group.

Instructor role in Project Based Learning is that of a facilitator. They do not relinquish control of the classroom or student learning but rather develop an atmosphere of shared responsibility. The Instructor must structure the proposed question/issue so as to direct the student's learning toward content-based materials. The instructor must regulate student success with intermittent, transitional goals to ensure student projects remain focused and students have a deep understanding of the concepts being investigated. It is important for teachers not to provide the students any answers because it defeats the learning and investigating process. Once the project is finished, the instructor provides the students with feedback that will help them strengthen their skills for their next project

Student role is to ask questions, build knowledge, and determine a real-world solution to the issue/question presented. Students must collaborate expanding their active listening skills and requiring them to engage in intelligent focused communication. Therefore, allowing them to think rationally on how to solve problems. PBL forces students to take ownership of their success.

Outcomes

More important than learning science, students need to learn to work in a community, thereby taking on social responsibilities. The most significant contributions of PBL have been in schools languishing in poverty stricken areas; when students take responsibility, or ownership, for their learning, their self-esteem soars. It also helps to create better work habits and attitudes toward learning. In standardized tests, languishing schools have been able to raise their testing grades a full level by implementing PBL. 

Although students do work in groups, they also become more independent because they are receiving little instruction from the teacher. With Project-Based Learning students also learn skills that are essential in higher education. The students learn more than just finding answers, PBL allows them to expand their minds and think beyond what they normally would. Students have to find answers to questions and combine them using critically thinking skills to come up with answers.

PBL is significant to the study of (mis-)conceptions; local concepts and childhood intuitions that are hard to replace with conventional classroom lessons. In PBL, project science is the community culture; the student groups themselves resolve their understandings of phenomena with their own knowledge building. Technology allows them to search in more useful ways, along with getting more rapid results.

Opponents of Project Based Learning warn against negative outcomes primarily in projects that become unfocused and tangential arguing that underdeveloped lessons can result in the wasting of precious class time. No one teaching method has been proven more effective than another. Opponents suggest that narratives and presentation of anecdotal evidence included in lecture-style instruction can convey the same knowledge in less class time. Given that disadvantaged students generally have fewer opportunities to learn academic content outside of school, wasted class time due to an unfocused lesson presents a particular problem. 

Instructors can be deluded into thinking that as long as a student is engaged and doing, they are learning. Ultimately it is cognitive activity that determines the success of a lesson. If the project does not remain on task and content driven the student will not be successful in learning the material. The lesson will be ineffective. Like any approach, Project Based Learning is only beneficial when applied successfully.

problem-based learning is a similar pedagogic approach, however, problem-based approaches structure students' activities more by asking them to solve specific (open-ended) problems rather than relying on students to come up with their own problems in the course of completing a project.

Criticism

One concern is that PBL may be inappropriate in mathematics, the reason being that mathematics is primarily skill-based at the elementary level. Transforming the curriculum into an over-reaching project or series of projects does not allow for the necessary practice at particular mathematical skills. For instance, factoring quadratic equations in elementary algebra is something that requires extensive practice.

Another criticism of PBL is that measures that are stated as reasons for its success are not measurable using standard measurement tools, and rely on subjective rubrics for assessing results.

What’s the Reality??

Although projects are the primary vehicle for instruction in project-based learning, there are no commonly shared criteria for what constitutes an acceptable project. Projects vary greatly in the depth of the questions explored, the clarity of the learning goals, the content and structure of the activity, and guidance from the teacher. 

The role of projects in the overall curriculum is also open to interpretation. Projects can guide the entire curriculum (more common in charter or other alternative schools) or simply comprise a few scattered hands-on activities. They might be multidisciplinary (more likely in elementary schools) or single-subject (commonly science and math). Some are whole class, others small group, and some individual.

Fully realized project-based teaching has never been widespread in mainstream public schooling. Teachers have little training or experience in the approach. Moreover, the time demands of projects, especially in today's context of standards, high-stakes tests, and pacing guides, understandably discourage many teachers from venturing into the kinds of collaborative student investigations that form the foundation of project-based learning. 

Project-based learning - Key features

There are several features that assist to direct the use of project-based instruction within a classroom. It is important to provide students with a specific focus. What do you expect students to achieve from the project? It is important that the project has a real world connection. This can be achieved through making several connections to real life experiences or situations that the specific focus age group may be facing. 

The project needs to allow students to not only make real life connections but also implement decision making skills, interacting with others, learning and applying new concepts and using their knowledge through a variety of education contexts. Working together with others. Collaborating with other students is a key element of Project based learning. As well as teachers and the broader community, however, the focus is on independent learning which help promote higher order thinking skills. 

It allows students to gain information from a variety of perspectives. Implementing research in a variety of environmental contexts is imperative through the application of several technologies including, computer programs, audio visual equipment and real life research to ensure that the full experience of the project is gained. The ultimate goal is to answer a posed question with the collaboration of others.

pr0bLem bAseD LeaRninG

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a student-centered instructional strategy in which students collaboratively solve problems and reflect on their experiences. It was pioneered and used extensively at McMaster University in Canada.

PBL is based on the educational theories of Vygotsky, Dewey, and others, and is related to social-cultural and constructivist theories of learning and instructional design.

Characteristics of PBL are:

• Learning is driven by challenging, open-ended, ill-defined and ill-structured problems.
• Students generally work in collaborative groups.
• Teachers take on the role as "facilitators" of learning.

In PBL, students are encouraged to take responsibility for their group and organize and direct the learning process with support from a tutor or instructor. Advocates of PBL claim it can be used to enhance content knowledge and foster the development of communication, problem-solving, and self-directed learning skill.

PBL positions students in simulated real world working and professional contexts which involve policy, process, and ethical problems that will need to be understood and resolved to some outcome. By working through a combination of learning strategies to discover the nature of a problem, understanding the constraints and options to its resolution, defining the input variables, and understanding the viewpoints involved, students learn to negotiate the complex sociological nature of the problem and how competing resolutions may inform decision-making.

Support systems, which include resources germane to the problem domain as well as instructional staff, are provided to scaffold students skills "just in time" and within their learning comfort zone (Vygotsky's Zone of Proximity).

Evidence supporting problem-based learning

Hmelo-Silver, Duncan, & Chinn cite several studies supporting the success of the constructivist problem-based and inquiry learning methods. For example, they describe a project called GenScope, an inquiry-based science software application. Students using the GenScope software showed significant gains over the control groups, with the largest gains shown in students from basic courses. 

Hmelo-Silver et al. also cite a large study by Geier on the effectiveness of inquiry-based science for middle school students, as demonstrated by their performance on high-stakes standardized tests. The improvement was 14% for the first cohort of students and 13% for the second cohort. This study also found that inquiry-based teaching methods greatly reduced the achievement gap for African-American students. 

A systematic review of the effects of problem-based learning in medical school on the performance of doctors after graduation showed clear positive effects on physician competence. This effect was especially strong for social and cognitive competencies such as coping with uncertainty and communication skills. 

Examples of applying Problem-Based Learning pedagogy to curriculum

 In Malaysia, an attempt is being made to introduce a hybrid of problem-based learning in secondary mathematics called PBL4C, which stands for problem-based learning the four core areas in the mathematics education framework. These core areas are mathematics contents, thinking processes, skills, & values, with the student as the focus of learning. This hybrid first sprouted in SEAMEO RECSAM in 2008. 

At tertiary level, many Malaysian universities are going for PBL purposely to improve the quality of the graduates produced. In collaboration with Aalborg University of Denmark, PBL was introduced at University Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM). Since then the PBL was widely used among engineering and as well as humanities lecturers at UTHM (Berhannudin, 2007).

Several medical schools have incorporated problem-based learning into their curricula, using real patient cases to teach students how to think like a clinician. More than eighty percent of medical schools in the United States now have some form of problem-based learning in their programs. Research of 10 years of data from the University of Missouri Medical School PBL curriculum supports PBL. ( Koh GC-H, Khoo HE, Wong ML, Koh D. The Effects of Problem-based learning during medical school on physician competency: a systematic review. CMAJ 2008;178(1):34-41.)

Constructivism and PBL

From a constructivist perspective Problem-based learning (PBL), the role of the instructor is to guide the learning process rather than provide knowledge (Hmelo-Silver & Barrows, 2006). From this perspective, feedback and reflection on the learning process and group dynamics are essential components of PBL. Students are considered to be active agents who engage in social knowledge construction.

Criticisms of Problem-Based Learning

Problem-based learning and cognitive load

Sweller and others have published a series of studies over the past twenty years that is relevant to problem-based learning but concerning cognitive load and what they describe as the guidance-fading effect (Sweller, 2006). Sweller, et al. conducted several classroom-based studies with students studying algebra problems (Sweller, 1988). These studies have shown that active problem solving early in the learning process, is a less effective instructional strategy than studying worked examples (Sweller and Cooper, 1985; Cooper and Sweller, 1987). 

Certainly active problem solving is useful as learners become more competent, and better able to deal with their working memory limitations. But early in the learning process, learners may find it difficult to process a large amount of information in a short amount of time. Thus the rigors of active problem solving may become an issue for novices. Once learners gain expertise the scaffolding inherent in problem-based learning helps learners avoid these issues. These studies have however been conducted largely based on individual problem solving of well-defined problems.

Sweller (1988) proposed cognitive load theory to explain how novices react to problem solving during the early stages of learning. Sweller, et al. suggests a worked example early, and then a gradual introduction of problems to be solved. They propose other forms of learning early in the learning process (worked example, goal free problems, etc.); to later be replaced by completions problems, with the eventual goal of solving problems on their own (Sweller, Van Merrienboer, & Paas, 1998). This problem based learning becomes very useful later in the learning process.

Many forms of scaffolding have been implemented in problem based learning to reduce the cognitive load of learners. These are most useful to fade guidance during problem solving. As an example, consider the fading effect helps learners to slowly transit from studying examples to solving problems. In this case backwards fading was found to be quite effective.

Cognitive effects of problem-based learning

The acquisition and structuring of knowledge in PBL is thought to work through the following cognitive effects (Schmidt, 1993):

• initial analysis of the problem and activation of prior knowledge through small-group discussion
• elaboration on prior knowledge and active processing of new information
• restructuring of knowledge, construction of a semantic network
• social knowledge construction
• learning in context
• stimulation of curiosity related to presentation of a relevant problem

c0ntRacT aPpr0vaL

 The Contract Approval sample demonstrates how to use workflow to manage the preparation, review and execution of a contract document. It includes the initial preparation of the contract document, editing, legal review and revision, as well as the signing of the final contract.

Using this workflow can help your organization to:

• Streamline  the contract approval process
• Provide flexibility to include other reviewers
• Provide a record of accountability
• Create an audit trail of anyone who made what changes to the contract

The sample also allows you to view the current status of a contract review and capture information such as reminder dates and lead times that can be used to automatically initiate the renewal process.

Contract approval flow

A contract passes through various states from the time it is created until the time is deleted. In most cases, the change of state is triggered by actions you take. Some state changes occur automatically. The approval state is optional.

In the diagram below, the actions that cause the state changes are shown on the lines connecting the contract states. Lines that are not labeled represent state changes that occur automatically. This diagram shows the possible states of one contract.