This study evaluated the effects of problem-based learning (PBL) in social work education. The participants were 132 second-year social work students who took the core courses of Social Work Theory and Practice and Skills Laboratory in the PBL mode. A 40-item scale was used to measure the students' perceptions of their social work knowledge,…

The purpose of the study was to determine the effect of problem-based learning (PBL) on critical thinking ability and content knowledge among selected secondary agriculture students in Missouri. The study employed a quasi-experimental, non-equivalent comparison group design. The treatment consisted of two instructional strategies: problem-based…

The aim of the present work was to see if storytelling in a clinical dental anatomy course would increase student satisfaction. We enhanced teaching by spontaneous storytelling in problem-based learning, in half of the third-year dentistry class. At the end of the course, we administered an anonymous questionnaire to the students in the class,…

This paper reports on the work of a European Commission DG Education and Culture co-financed project PBP-VC, Promoting Best Practice in Virtual Campuses, which is aimed at providing a deeper understanding of the key issues and critical success factors underlying the implementation of virtual campuses. The paper outlines a tentative model of issues…

This paper describes a student-focused activity that promotes effective learning in analytical chemistry. Providing an environment where students were responsible for their own learning allowed them to participate at all levels from designing the problem to be addressed, planning the laboratory work to support their learning, to providing evidence…

In this article, the author describes the process of writing a problem-based learning (PBL) problem and shows how a typical end-of-chapter accounting problem can be converted to a PBL problem. PBL uses complex, real-world problems to motivate students to identify and research the concepts and principles they need to know to solve these problems.…

The references in this document provide an overview of empirical and conceptual scholarship on the application of learning theories in community college classrooms. Specific theories discussed in the citations include: active learning, cooperative learning, multiple intelligences, problem-based learning, and self-regulated learning. In addition to…

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…

The computer numerical control (CNC) flatbed router is a powerful tool and a must-have piece of equipment for any technology education program in which students will produce a product--whether it involves Manufacturing, Materials Processing, or any of the vast array of Project Lead the Way courses. This article describes an activity--producing a…

Creating activities that model engineering design as it appears in industry provides great experience for technology students. Design in general creates an element with special regard to its form and function. Engineering design involves doing that, and going beyond to produce an efficient product that addresses its intended purpose. In this…

Tasks and problems in problem-based learning (PBL) are supposed to trigger and structure the learning process. The quality of problems in PBL is generally regarded as an important driver of the individual and collaborative learning processes. Although the importance of the PBL task is widely recognized, there is a lack of empirical findings and…

This article reports on extended research into the use of enquiry-based learning (EBL) and problem-based learning (PBL) in a human resource management undergraduate programme. The authors have collected and analysed qualitative and quantitative data over a three-year period, some of which have been previously reported (Reynolds and Benmore, 2003,…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a summer science camp teaching experience on preservice elementary teachers' science teaching efficacy, science content knowledge, and understanding of the nature of science. Master's degree students enrolled in the elementary Fairfax Partnership Schools (FPS, n = 21) cohort served as the…

Interviews with students at an all-Black, all-male school in a major northeastern city revealed that a significant proportion of the participating students had a strong preference for practical, demonstrative explanations of new concepts and information that are directly related to their everyday experiential realities. These findings suggest that…

This paper presents a goal-based scenario approach to teaching introductory database concepts to undergraduates using two different scaffolding methods. One method, termed "worked-out examples," attempts to reduce extraneous cognitive load by requiring students to complete increasingly complex missing parts of worked out examples. The other…