An issue for many mathematics departments is the success rate of precalculus students. In an effort to increase the success rate, this quantitative study investigated how class size and teaching approach influenced student achievement and students' attitudes towards learning mathematics. Students' achievement and their attitudes toward learning…

Two developments have contributed to the convergence of views about the benefits of real-life and inquiry-based pedagogies in mathematics learning. First, the mathematics teaching community is increasingly focused on the learning of mathematics that involves the transfer of prior knowledge to novel problem-solving situations, a key element in…

The theme of this special issue is timely as the world becomes increasingly flat and globally connected (Friedman, 2007). By focusing on an international perspective in problem-based learning (PBL), it puts culture squarely in the center, whether it is a national or disciplinary culture. The articles in this special issue represent Thailand, South…

In this article, the author describes a project in which Collaborative Inquiry, or CI (Bray et al. 2000), was used by a small inquiry group consisting of a high school science teacher and two university educators, Marie Cashion and the author herself, Karen Goodnough, to explore Problem-Based Learning (PBL). In CI groups, co-learners work through…

Discusses problem solving, problem-based learning, and collaborative learning, and describes a university study that investigated the effects of individual Web-based learning versus computer-mediated collaborative Web-based learning and ability grouping on learner performance in solving ill-defined problems. Considers time on task, participant…

Children naturally explore and learn about their environments through inquiry, and computer technologies offer an accessible vehicle for extending the domain and range of this inquiry. Over the past decade, a growing number of interactive games and educational software packages have been implemented in early childhood education and addressed a…

In a climate of rapid change, increasing innovation, and proliferating knowledge, lifelong learning is an important educational objective. Lifelong learning skills need to be developed if educators intend for their students to stay current in their fields. Staying abreast of new innovations, research, techniques, and information is a prerequisite…

Reviews the current status of problem-based learning (PBL) research in pharmacy education, identifies trends and student outcomes from the pharmacy courses that have used PBL, presents a brief review of PBL research in medical education, and recommends future directions for PBL research in pharmacy education. (EV)

Proposes that collaborative, constructivist, and problem-based learning are powerful conceptual antidotes to pedagogy as transmission and knowledge as parceled facts and objects. Notes that as more texts become available in digital form, users access information in different ways that have profound ramifications for reading and writing. Contends…

Describes a study of medical school students in The Netherlands that tested the assumption of problem-based learning that learning issues, generated by students while discussing a problem, are used as guides for self-directed learning activities. Faculty objectives and student-generated learning issues are compared. (LRW)

This paper makes a critical assessment of problem-based learning (PBL) in geography. It assesses what PBL is, in terms of the range of definitions in use and in light of its origins in specific disciplines such as medicine. It considers experiences of PBL from the standpoint of students, instructors and managers (e.g. deans), and asks how well…