Engineering tertiary courses that reflect professional activity mandate the successful application of theorems and concepts in order to solve technical problems. This graduate skill is typically assessed during student problem-solving activities. Furthermore, both collaborative learning and the interactive study method known as self-explanation…

This article discusses the teachers' role in self-directed learning (SDL) -- a central concept in adult education. We explore the use of Socratic questioning to develop critical thinking, which is the outcome of SDL in problem-based learning (PBL). In particular, we analyse 11 adult learners' reflective journals in relation to a Socratic seminar.…

Legal reasoning is a type of problem solving, and is situated within thinking skills, one of the six threshold learning outcomes established under the auspices of the Australian Learning and Teaching Council's Bachelor of Laws Learning and Teaching Academic Standards Statement. The threshold learning outcomes define what law graduates are…

This study investigates the positive impact of the Case Method implemented during a 4- hours tutorial in "therapeutic chemistry module." We view the Case Method as one particular approach within the broader spectrum of problem based or inquiry based learning approaches. Sixty students were included in data analysis. A pre-test and…

Research has shown that educators may be reluctant to implement group work in their teaching due to concerns about students partaking in off-task behaviours. However, such off-task interactions have been shown to promote motivation, trust, and rapport-building. This paper details a study in which student groups were video recorded as they engaged…

Question-asking is essential for being, knowing and learning. However, classroom research has confirmed that students do not ask questions spontaneously and teachers ask the most questions, mainly low-level ones. The purpose of this qualitative case-study is to investigate question-asking during problem-based learning (PBL) tutorials, a subject…

Although students' talk in problem-based learning (PBL) tutorials is the pivotal learning site in PBL, few studies have involved conducting a discourse analysis of this talk. This paper focuses on what we can learn about the PBL process from listening to how PBL students talked about it in naturally occurring talk in tutorials. The illuminative…

Evidence supporting Problem-based learning (PBL) fostering students' self-directed learning (SDL) in hybrid PBL curricula is inconsistent. To explore the influence of PBL in a hybrid curriculum on students' SDL, the authors investigated the following: (1) students' self-assessed SDL ability, (2) students' perceptions of the influence of curricular…

This paper describes a qualitative study which took place over a two year period with academic staff engaged on a blended Masters programme delivered with the learning environment based around problem-based learning. At the pedagogical level, transformative practice has the potential to engage students as critical thinkers, by encouraging them to…

Self-directed learning (SDL), is an essential concept in problem-based learning (PBL), and, in a broader sense, student-centred learning. Considering the complex nature of SDL, it has been taken for granted and given a shallow meaning, i.e. self-study. In order to develop a deeper understanding and make use of the potential in SDL, this paper…

This article explores the use of discourse analysis and conversation analysis as an evaluation tool in problem-based learning. The basic principles of the methods are discussed and their application in analysing talk in problem-based learning considered. Findings suggest that these methods could enable an understanding of how effective…

Students collaborating in small groups is a characteristic of problem-based learning (PBL) that is receiving increased consideration in the literature. In this paper findings from studies in this area are synthesized and discussed. A distinction is made between studies focusing on cognitive effects of group learning and studies focusing on…

Introduction: In group learning settings like problem-based learning (PBL), the quality of interaction is closely related to group success. However, research and practice have shown that the interaction in tutorial groups is not optimal. In the present study, a questionnaire was used to measure students' perceptions of occurrence and desirability…

Of concern in the problem-based learning process in medical student education is the effect of allowing students to generate their own learning issues while discussing cases and problems. This study considered learning issues in problem-based learning, studying faculty and student overlap and consistency across learning groups while adding the…

Evaluation of problem-based learning tutorials with 70 medical students found that, when tutors had expertise in the clinical cases studied, student groups generated twice as many learning issues, and issues were three times more congruent with the case objectives. Additionally, groups with expert tutors spent more time overcoming identified…