The right environment

idea exploration!=Source: Greenwald (2002)

(See Graphic 19)

Whatever the setting, work, academic, personal life etc. PBL must, above all else, be practiced in a safe haven for exploring ideas and taking intellectual risks.

Intellectual curiosity: asking interesting questions, delighting in new experiences, liking to probe and being informed.
Intellectual honesty: accepting statements as true even when they don’t agree with one’s position.
Persistence: “stick-to-itive-ness”, motivation to learn and find out.
Respect for other viewpoints: willingness to admit being wrong; revising one’s own ideas to incorporate those of others.
Open-mindedness: willingness to consider a wide variety of beliefs.
Viewing errors as stepping-stones: recognizing how errors can lead to new learning and understanding.
Toleration of ambiguity: ability to delay closure, defer judgment, asking such questions as “how else can this be interpreted?”
Humor and playfulness: finding the fun in learning, manipulating ideas in whimsical ways to gain insight and perspective.

(Original page by Mary Frangie)