This book illustrates how problem-based learning (PBL) can enliven curriculum and lesson planning by encouraging students to play a more central role in their own learning process. It provides a framework for efficiently and effectively teaching problem-solving skills, tapping children's interests and previous knowledge, and making the curriculum…

Statistics is generally classified as a difficult course. In this regard, promoting an active learning environment is a popular instructional strategy. However, there is much evidence in the literature of a literal and simplistic interpretation of "active learning environment". This report describes an approach to facilitating introductory…

General-education science courses should provide students with a foundation of knowledge about how the natural world works, a clear understanding of the nature of science and scientific inquiry, and an appreciation for the relationship between science and society. This chapter suggests a variety of approaches to engage students in their own…

A weak negative attitude towards learning science was noticed among the students in Qatar, a matter that was reflected on their achievement in national tests. To test if the use of PBL would improve the students' attitudes towards learning science, a sample of 25 nine graders from Hamza school were motivated to plan their own investigations and to…

The emerging field of urban ecology has the potential to engage urban youth in the practices of scientists by studying a locally relevant environmental problem. To this end, we are developing curriculum modules designed to engage students in learning science through the use of emerging information technology. In this paper, we describe the impact…

The current paper describes the design and development of a qualitative analysis course and an interactive web-based teaching and assessment tool called VSE (virtual structural environment). The widespread reliance on structural analysis programs requires engineers to be able to verify computer output by carrying out qualitative analyses.…

Recounts the implementation of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) in a cooperative learning environment by a teacher in a technical- and professional-related discipline. States that PBL frees students from restrictions and forces the instructor to release control of the learning process. Sample worksheets appended. (Contains 11 references.) (AUTH/NB)

Reports on the development of a series of assignments for use in a basic microbiology course involving sophomore-, junior-, and senior-level students from five different biology majors. Assignments include writing, a class debate, and case history studies. (Author/MM)

An instructor contemplating a course transformation to incorporate a student-centered learning environment may feel faced with what seems like a high-wire balancing act--a constantly renegotiated compromise between students' legitimate needs for structure, well-understood expectations, and good grades and instructors' foreknowledge that the path…

Problem-based learning at the United Arab Emirates University has presented particular challenges. Students, used to a teacher-centered approach, needed more support in taking advantage of active learning and tutorial support than their Western counterparts required. Study guides have become valuable components of the curriculum. Discusses…

A self-help group approach was used to enhance medical students' cooperative skills within an elective course. The task profile envisaged included team building, cooperative information search and problem-solving skills, and providing and receiving constructive feedback. Findings suggest that training for productive cooperative learning is useful…

This paper describes a pedagogical technique employed for an interdisciplinary course on Cold War America. Students had to "become" a fictional person and discuss how political and social changes during the Cold War era would have impacted that person. By doing a semester-long project that required primary source research, this…

This paper reports on the experiences of a small collaborative inquiry group consisting of a high school science teacher, Deidre, and two university researchers, the authors of this paper, as they explored an active, inquiry-based approach to teaching and learning referred to as Problem-Based Learning or PBL (Barrows, 1994; Barrows & Tamblyn,…

This is one of six innovative sessions proposed for the AHRD Scholar-Practitioner Track and coordinated by the AHRD Scholar-Practitioner Committee. It examines a suite of novel e-learning design options and how to implement an action-based approach to online learning. Participants have the opportunity to hear about these innovative approaches to…

A new approach to introductory accounting at the University of Southern California teaches students to view issues from varied perspectives, broadens exposure to unstructured problems with more than one solution approach, and places accounting in real-world context. It has increased enrollment and persistence and attracted new students to the…