Active learning is the outcome of a series of higher education policy reforms conducted in the late 2000s and early 2010s in Japan. This approach gained momentum after it was prioritised in a comprehensive report produced by the Central Council of Education (an advisory board of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology).…

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this study is to develop an efficient methodology that can assist the evaluators in assessing a variable number of individuals that are working in groups and guarantee that the assessment is dependent on the group members' performance and contribution to the work developed. Background: Collaborative work has been…

In problem-based learning large cohorts of students are divided into smaller groups that pursue learning objectives with separate instructors called tutors. This presents challenges for tutors tasked with providing similar educational experiences and assessment of multiple groups of students. Here we evaluated between-group variation in test…

Problem-based learning (PBL) is an approach that improves students' skills in problem solving. The application of PBL as an approach of teaching in a class requires students' presence; such constraint cannot be fulfilled by all students. Therefore, it is important to avoid this problem by implementing an online PBL environment where students are…

In this paper we propose a method for the adaptive complex assessment (ACA) of the higher-order thinking (HOT) skills needed by students for problem solving, and we examine the impact of the method on the development of HOT skills in a problem-based learning (PBL) environment. Complexity in the assessment is provided by initial, formative, and…

Previous qualitative research on educational practices designed to improve critical thinking has relied on anecdotal or student self-reports of gains in critical thinking. Unfortunately, student self-report data have been found to be unreliable proxies for measuring critical thinking gains. Therefore, in the current interpretivist study, five…

At Aalborg University, engineering students spend half the time each semester in groups working on projects in a problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum. The projects are assessed through group exams, except for between 2007 and 2013 when the law forbade group-based project exams. Prior to 2007, a survey showed that students preferred the…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe a novel undergraduate course on serious game design and development that integrates both game and instructional design, thus providing an effective approach to teaching serious game design and development. Very little effort has been dedicated to the teaching of proper serious game design and…

The purpose of this paper is to qualitatively examine the relationship between problem based learning, authentic assessment and the role of community in fostering learning in digital contexts. The authors used "Digital Moments" to create a meaningful learning environment and build the online class community. They then collaboratively…

Within the (Computer-Supported) Collaborative Learning (CS)CL research community, there has been an extensive dialogue on theories and perspectives on learning from collaboration, approaches to scaffold (script) the collaborative process, and most recently research methodology. In contrast, the issue of assessment of collaborative learning has…

A non-traditional teaching method that can operate as a vehicle for engaging students is group-based competitive exercises. These exercises combine cooperative learning with a competitive environment and may be employed to promote subject- and problem-based learning. Survey responses of college-level organic chemistry and biochemistry students…

From a review of instructional design theories, research, and practice, the author has derived his "First Principles of Instruction". In this article, he suggests a rubric for using these principles to evaluate existing instruction. The article presents a Course Evaluation form and accompanying demonstration and application rubrics that enable the…

This article describes a simulation that fulfills many of the goals of a scholar/apprentice model--one that requires a sustained period of time during which an apprentice practices a set of discipline-specific skills under the guidance of his or her mentor. Such an extended simulation differs from shorter exercises in several ways, such as the…

A modified form of problem-based learning (PBL) with problems based on real workplace scenarios was trialled in a third year university class on Environmental Geology. Problems were developed in consultation with industry and based on their recent projects. These were then modified to allow for the shorter timeframe available, the less developed…

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a pedagogical method that challenges students to think intuitively, learn cooperatively in groups to seek solutions to real world problems. These problems are used as the building blocks to engage students' curiosity and initiate independent learning of subject matter. Authentic, alternative assessment plays a key…