Part 1 - An Introduction to Big6 for Problem-Based Learning

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The communities of Santa Teresa, New Mexico and El Paso, Texas have something in common--both communities are monitored by the U. S. Border Patrol, but not in the way that many illegal aliens have come to expect their attention. The U. S. Border Patrol has set up outreach centers to bring about goodwill and provide teenagers with the opportunity to explore career possibilities. For the legal citizens of these communities, this is a wonderful initiative. For the undocumented aliens, parents of teenagers coming face to face with the U. S. Border Patrol in school, it's a nightmare. 

Illegal immigrants fear that the U. S. Border Patrol may try to identify children of illegals, and then use this information to locate and prosecute the parents. Despite the U. S. Border Patrol's protests that this will not happen, the relationship between parents and school officials is tenuous. How will parents who are illegal immigrants attend school meetings if they fear encountering deportation officials? While the stakeholders of these border communities probably have not heard of ill-structured problems, they are certainly in the middle of one.

Ill-structured problems like this one are messy by nature. They are like the real-life situations students can expect to encounter when they leave school, and they can be great learning opportunities as a form of problem-based learning. Problem-based learning (PBL) uses real-life problems modeled after a contemporary or historical case to engage students as they pursue specified learning outcomes that are in line with academic standards or course objectives (Stepien & Pyke, 1997). Students work through the problem as a stakeholder. The teacher acts as a guide or advisor as students explore the issues involved, formulate questions, conduct research, and consider possible solutions to the problems.


Since most problems spring from a lack of information, problem-based learning makes an ideal tool to use and reinforce the Big6 Skills. The Big6 approach to information-problem solving provides a framework for students to find, organize, and present the information that they need to solve-real life problems. This accomplishes two goals÷to help them complete their assignment efficiently and successfully, and to remind them that they must be information processors in their life beyond school. Combined with graphic organizers, the Big6 becomes a powerful tool to help students work through the U. S. Border Patrol scenario.

Using graphic organizers with the Big6 process can help students build their own knowledge and reflect on how new information links to their mental framework, or schema, of the world. This is important because, according to Buzan (1996), the human brain works primarily with key concepts in an interlinked and integrated manner. 

In Part 2, we'll explore specific Actions you can take.