OBSERVATION OF STUDENT TEACHERS' PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION AND DEFINITION PROCESS DURING ONLINE TRAINING IN SCAFFOLDED PROBLEM BASED LEARNING STRATEGY (PBLS).

It is the need of today's society that people are able to solve complex problems efficiently. Being able to successfully
solve problems is more than just accumulating knowledge- it involves development of flexible, cognitive strategies
that help analyse different problem situations to produce meaningful learning outcomes. Online training package
on Scaffolded Problem Based Learning Strategy using the learning management system, MOODLE is intended
to guide student teachers to become experts in the field of study, capable of identifying the problems based on
the domain knowledge of the discipline and analyzing and contributing to the solutions in a completely online
mode.
The online training package, designed on the lines of ADDIE model is assigned four credits and student teachers
need to put in 120 hours of study for completion of the training. The package incorporates PBLS, follows
collaborative approach and has provision of scaffolds. The study was conducted on 41 student teachers of
Hansraj Jivandas College of Education. The student teachers were selected on the basis of their competence in
the use of computer and internet. The student teachers undertook the online training in Scaffolded Problem
Based Learning strategy (PBLS) wherein the student teachers had to solve ten problems related to difficulties
faced by school teachers and administrators in the implementation of various aspects of PBLS. For every
problem the researcher conducted a problem discussion, identification and definition in a synchronous mode
and observed the student teachers during the process.
The researcher observed the student teachers during the process of problem discussion and identification and
defining of the problem, in a synchronous mode. Observations indicate that the student teachers took less time
as they proceeded from problem one to problem ten with respect to problem discussion, identification and
problem definition. Also ambiguity with respect to the process of problem discussion reduced and student
teachers gained confidence about the problem discussion, identification and definition process.
 Online, Learning Management System, MOODLE, teacher training, Problem based learning,
Scaffolds, problem discussion, problem identification, problem definition