Reviews research on organizational change and leader effectiveness, and argues that communication should be addressed formally in administrator and teacher preparation programs. An ongoing effort to develop a communication skills component of an administrator preparation program that incorporates problem-based learning is described. (SLD)

Describes how the World Wide Web was implemented in a graduate course that focused on technology-based learning at the University of Wollongong (Australia). The interactions that took place among students, and between students and the instructor illustrate how problem-based learning strategies can be supported by the Web. (Author/LRW)

Describes a curriculum design approach, "the ill-structured problem," based on real life situations, that was used for a summer gifted foreign language program for fifth- and sixth-grade students in the Chesapeake Public Schools, Virginia. Elements of problem-based learning are described, including the problem comes first, the problem is…

Describes the investigative case-study approach in biology, a variant of problem-based learning. Students develop questions that lend themselves to scientific investigation and develop their own investigative approaches. Contains 16 references. (DDR)

In the Discover Lab, a science education center at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, students learn to investigate, critique, and test big scientific questions and devise their own answers. Students are guided through cyclical processes of inquiry, logic and reasoning, testing and experimentation, and communication. (MLH)

The Minnesota Zoo's School of Environmental Studies is an optional, interdisciplinary program open to juniors and seniors from four comprehensive high schools. The problems posed, like those in the world, require students to think across disciplines. Students measure, analyze, map, photograph, display, and present findings to the local community…

Describes the design and implementation of an integrated art and science curriculum "Genetic Robotics: A Three-Dimensional Scientific Inquiry" for high school art and biology students at Madeira Junior/Senior High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. States that the project aimed at recognizing individual differences while enabling students to become…

At least since John Dewey published his classic works (Dewey [1916] 1938; 1933; [1938] 1963), teachers have been urged to engage students by using thinking and inquiry tasks that reflect real-world concerns and interests. Subsequent to the appearance of Dewey's discussions of that pedagogical stance, the National Council for the Social Studies…

The purpose of this study was to get more insight in the effects of written assessment tasks integrated in a problem-based learning environment. Both the influence on students' performances and students' perceptions were investigated. Students' final exam results were used to find out whether students who make the assessment tasks do better than…

The proliferation of information on the Internet introduces new challenges for educators. Although the Internet can provide quick and easy access to a wealth of information, it has virtually no quality control. Consequently, the Internet has rendered faculty more essential than ever as teachers of the analytic and evaluative skills students need…

The reasons to introduce formats of active learning in engineering (ALE) such as project work, problem-based learning, use of cases, etc. are mostly based on practical experience, and sometimes from applied research on teaching and learning. Such research shows that students learn more and different abilities than in traditional formats of…

In society, there is a growing need for graduates who possess competencies consistent with deep learning. This means that, amongst other competencies, graduates should be capable of dealing with the complexity of the tasks in which they will engage in professional situations. We tried to increase the depth of students' learning by changing the…

Problem-based learning (PBL) is apprenticeship for real-life problem solving, helping students acquire the knowledge and skills required in the workplace. Although the acquisition of knowledge and skills makes it possible for performance to occur, without self-efficacy the performance may not even be attempted. I examined how student…

Students are most motivated and learn best when they are immersed in an environment that causes them to realize why they should learn. Perhaps nowhere is this truer than when teaching the biological sciences to engineers. Transitioning from a traditionally mathematics-based to a traditionally knowledge-based pedagogical style can challenge student…

This paper presents the application of the problem-based learning (PBL) method as an innovative approach to teaching engineering. This paper supports the idea that the PBL method is aptly suited to teaching the engineering disciplines, as its methodology nurtures critical thinking and problem-solving skills, which are central to a graduate's…