In this article, I present selected extracts and formulations from John Dewey's seminal book "Democracy and Education" (1916) that speak to the question of the educational purpose of PBL. Dewey's work, and in particular this book, is in many ways foundational in regard to arguing for PBL as an educational approach. However, in…

In this paper, this theme of the open question is offered as a hermeneutical approach to problem-based learning. Most of the scientific literature on problem-based learning is in the realm of the behavioral-sciences. To the extent that the latter becomes the exclusive focus of research on problem-based learning, there is a risk of…

This paper examines a PBL project module "Sustainable Urban Transformation" in an Urban Design master's education. The module combines urban design and hydrology engineering. Within the module, students are supported by lectures and study circles on various dimensions of sustainability, especially vis-a-vis climate change. However, they…

What Illeris' "Problem orientation and participant direction -- A proposal for alternative didactics" (1974) signified for Roskilde University, Eva Hultengren's "Problem orientation, project work and report writing" (1976) signified for Aalborg University. Both books were soon published in a second edition, but only Hultengren…

This article introduces work originating from the area of Networked Learning that seeks to problematise and critically discuss notions such as 'collaboration', 'community', and 'participation'. It argues that there is a dark and shadowy side to these ideals, which we need to attend to in a reflexive manner. To this end, it introduces ideas of…

Problem-based learning has a long history of transforming higher education institutions at course-, curriculum- and even systemic levels, and has shown to enhance student-centered learning and core pedagogical values such as facilitating collaboration, complex problem-solving skills and critical thinking. However, rapid digitalisation in higher…

This paper reflects on a slow re-reading of Maggi Savin-Baden's "Impact of Transdisciplinary Threshold Concepts on Student Engagement in Problem-Based Learning" and its relation to the author's experiences as a teacher and curriculum developer in Techno-Anthropology at Aalborg University. It explores four transdisciplinary threshold…

Within the framework of the CITYLAB LA "Engaging students with sustainable cities in Latin-America" Project, ERASMUS Program, this article reflects on the application of the Project-oriented Problem-Based Learning pedagogical method in the workshop work carried out by the Chair Urbanism IIA--Faculty of Architecture, Urbanism and Design,…

The urban design courses of the urban planning career in the Universidad Simón Bolívar (USB, 2017) Caracas-Venezuela, are part of the backbone of workshops (4 of 11) and invite to the study of parts of the city whose problems demand to be resolved, according to traditional teaching methods. Considering this precedent and within the framework of…

This reflection provides an introduction to, and reflection on, the new text "Rethinking Problem-based Learning for the Digital Age" (Savin-Baden and Fraser, 2024). It begins by telling the story and rationale for the creation of the book and then provides an overview of the text of the whole. The next section discusses the purpose of…

Since pre-internship medical students appeared inefficient in acquiring fundamental knowledge in large classes, a hybrid instructional method of problem-and-lecture-based learning (PLBL) was designed to leverage the complementary strengths of PBL in reasoning under minimal guidance and LBL in immediate knowledge retention. We improved PBL (IPBL)…

An interdisciplinary approach has been adopted for undergraduate Law and Social Science students attending separate seven-week intensive language communication courses run at the University of Helsinki. The challenge has been to anchor this pedagogical development within theoretical frames of reference that contextualise the interdisciplinary PBL…

This paper presents the evaluation of a design research project that combines artistic practice and academic theory to demonstrate how problem-based learning (PBL) can bridge the gap between those fields. "Researching Empathy Through Staged Performance" was a master's thesis project in the field of interaction design and consisted of an…

In this article we discuss the contemporary conditions for running the Aalborg Problem Based Learning-model (PBL). We try to pinpoint key characteristics of these conditions emphasising Lyotard's conception of knowledge production referred to as the move towards a postmodern condition for knowledge. Through discussions of this alleged condition…

Problem-based learning (PBL) is widely recognized as a pedagogical approach across disciplines. However, the relevance and application of PBL in psychology has received limited attention. Therefore, this article presents a PBL-based master degree programme for psychologists. The article is divided into three sections. First, we present the…