Describes a study that analyzed how students in three different Swedish university programs conceived of the meaning of problem-based learning and how they experienced their studies within a problem-based learning program. Discusses learning in context, social interaction, meta-cognitive reasoning and self-directed learning, and academic cultures.…

Three studies were conducted on the validity of instruments adopted for student assessment in problem-based learning at the Maastricht School of Economics and Business Administration (the Netherlands). Results with 109 students suggest the importance of the breadth and depth of the student's knowledge profile and the extent to which the knowledge…

Performances on Steps 1 and 2 of the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) were compared for classes that had completed a new problem-based learning curriculum and for previous, traditionally instructed classes at the University of Missouri Columbia School of Medicine. Students in the problem-based learning curriculum outperformed…

Students entering Taiwanese senior high schools are now taught technology education instead of industrial arts education. Using problem-based learning strategies, the "living technology" curriculum gives male and female students job-seeking opportunities and skills and allows them to pursue technological literacy and learn about modern…

This article sets out to offer the reader an opportunity to engage with our emerging ideas about a reflective, person centred model for students and facilitators using problem-based learning (PBL). The model developed initially through several strands of qualitative inquiry including research with students, immersion in the existing literature and…

This article on pedagogy in the classroom seminar combines the basic principles of dialogue and liberation as expressed especially by 20th-century thinkers Bakhtin and Freire. It argues for a pedagogy of educational growth and facilitation of ideas. Through learner-centered knowledge, dialogic interaction, open exploration, mutual respect, and…

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…

In business schools across the United States, one of the most common pedagogical tools is the use of groups and group projects. "Passive" instruction (i.e., lecture only) is considered to be an inferior mode of teaching. In this article, the author suggests that the use of group-based projects as pedagogical tools should be reconsidered.…

This article describes the application of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) methodology in the context of a student congress, arguing that such new approaches to learning are best-suited to the goals of the Bologna Process. The Congress in question enabled Spanish graduate students in Psychology, many of them mid-career professionals, to increase their…

This paper briefly examines the literature on (a) problem-based learning (PBL), including constructivism and problem solving, and (b) learning in context, including mediation, embodiment, distribution, and situatedness. We use this literature, our previous research [Hill & Smith Journal of Technology Education 9(1), 29-41 (1998)], and some initial…

During the last decades, traditional learning environments have been criticised for not developing the prerequisites for professional expertise (H. Mandl, H. Gruber & A. Renkl, "Interactive minds: Life-span perspectives on the social foundation of cognition," pp. 394-412, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1996; P. Tynjala, "International…

We present a conceptual framework for scaffolding ill-structured problem-solving processes using question prompts and peer interactions. We first examine the characteristics and processes of ill-structured problem solving, namely, problem representation, generating solutions, making justifications, and monitoring and evaluation. Then, we analyze…

A sociocultural view of learning proposes that learning involves becoming enculturated into a community of practice. A step along the way is learning to use the specialized language of such a community, as language is a crucial tool that regulates participation, mediates cognition and plays a central role in the development of thought.…

Students in the Electronics Engineering Technology program at Pennsylvania College of Technology designed and built a computerized dynamometer platform for testing dc brushless motors. As the capstone experience for EET-320, Measurement and Tests course, students were divided into teams of four and were given three weeks to complete the project.…

This article describes my efforts to improve student skills in solving unstructured problems in a junior-level undergraduate business course by employing a problem-based learning (PBL) design. A rationale for adopting a PBL approach for this course is articulated. A 7-step problem-solving model is then presented. The course's design is described,…