Suggests that professors may want to help students think carefully about their own thinking. This article offers a practical approach that professors can use to help individual students and students within classrooms think metacognitively about their problem-solving efforts. (SWM)

Describes strategies and structures for preparing for professional practice, including different kinds of professional knowledge, self-directed learning, facilitated learning groups, and problem-based learning. (SK)

The results of an experimental study investigating the influence of problem familiarity on learning in a problem-based psychology course are presented. Participants worked with either a "familiar" or an "unfamiliar" version of the same problem. The following measurements were taken (1) a measure of problem quality as perceived by students, (2)…

In this article, the concept of approach related to tutor functioning in problem-based learning (PBL) is explored and the significance of a phenomenological perspective of the body in relation to learning and tutoring is investigated. The aim has been to understand the concept of approach in a context where the individual, thoughts, emotions and…

This study investigated whether using multimedia-based instructional material in a problem-based social studies simulation enhances student learning about world issues, increases interest in social studies, and generates positive attitudes toward the instruction. The GlobalEd Project, a Web-based international negotiation simulation embedded in…

The authors investigate the relationship between student learning choices and learning styles in the use of an innovative learning environment for statistics. For teaching introductory statistics to first-year students in economics and business, Maastricht University uses a blended learning environment. It allows students to individualize learning…

The population growth together with the unsustainable consumption pattern is putting increasing stress on the planet's natural resources. The increasing realisation that humans are harming the environment is taking the form of a global movement intended to change behaviour towards sustainability, now recognised as a framework that links humans to…

This book, prepared in the context of the "UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD)", also known as "Rio+20", contains the papers submitted to the "World Symposium on Sustainable Development at Universities (WSSD-U-2012)", which took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 5 and 6 June 2012. It pursues the following main aims: to document and…

Books and courses on research methods, statistics, or both, often necessarily focus on one topic at a time. This compartmentalized approach prevents students from seeing the big picture. To address this shortcoming, I developed an exercise through which students experience the whole research process in a single class period. From posing a…

The professional expertise of educational leaders has been defined through the lens of problem-solving processes. Problem-based learning has therefore become an increasingly popular instructional approach in principal preparatory programs. As such, this study represents an initial attempt to explore learning from success (i.e., success-based…

This article provides an overview of problem-based learning (PBL) in Canadian undergraduate medical education and continuing medical education (CME) programs. The CME field in Canada is described, and the major professional associations that require physicians to take annual courses and programs are noted. A brief history of PBL in undergraduate…

This study compared a traditional lecture-based life span development course to the same course redesigned using Fink's (2003) taxonomy of significant learning. The goals, activities, and feedback within the course corresponded to Fink's 6 taxa (knowledge, application, integration, human dimension, caring, learning how to learn). Undergraduates in…

In this problem-based learning activity (PBL), students embark on a science trek to answer the question "Where is the science in my neighborhood?" The project serves as an excellent review of science curriculum in anticipation of Virginia's year-end standardized test--the Standards of Learning (SOL). This has proved to be an interesting…

This paper describes a problem-based chemistry education model in which students perform scientific research on a local environmentally relevant problem. The project is a collaboration among The University of Montana and local high schools centered around Missoula, Montana. "Air Toxics under the Big Sky" involves high school students in collecting…

Many initiatives for the improvement of undergraduate science education call for inquiry-based learning that emphasizes investigative projects and reading of the primary literature. These approaches give students an understanding of science as a process and help them integrate content presented in courses. At the same time, general initiatives to…