This article focuses on the practical issues in implementing instructional approaches based on constructivist views of learning. The authors do not view this as a procedural guide, but rather believe that the design of these inquiry based learning (IBL) approaches must be guided by the view of learning represented in constructivist frameworks.…

This paper explores the concept and practice of interaction within a blended problem-based learning (PBL) module for academic professional development in higher education. A qualitative study spanning two years of the lived experiences of 17 academic staff in a blended PBL module was considered likely to provide a much-needed analysis of current…

Interteaching is a new pedagogical strategy for classroom instruction that demonstrates great effective student learning outcomes in the field of psychology. It is a 20 to 30 min student-to-student discussion addressing the main points in a specified body of reading materials. Interteaching includes elements such as reciprocal peer tutoring,…

Enzymology is one of the fundamental areas of biochemistry and involves the study of the structure, kinetics, and regulation of enzyme activity. Research in this area is often conducted with purified enzymes and extrapolated to "in vivo" conditions. The specificity constant, k[subscript S], is the ratio between k[subscript cat] (the catalytic…

The study presents and applies the 4MAT theoretical framework to educational planning to transform a biostatistics course into a problem-based learning experience. Using a four-question approach, described are specific activities/materials utilized at both the class and course levels. Two web-based instruments collected data regarding student…

Googlitis, the overreliance on search engines for research and the resulting development of poor searching skills, is a recognized problem among today's students. Google is not an effective research tool because, in addition to encouraging keyword searching at the expense of more powerful subject searching, it only accesses the Surface Web and is…

Problem-based learning, or PBL, is a student-centered instructional approach that is derived from constructivist epistemology. It is based upon ill-structured real-world problems with the goal of strengthening and developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills in learners. Initially utilized in medical schools to strengthen diagnostic…

This study aims to explore problem-based learning (PBL) in conjunction with students' confidence in the basic ideas of electromagnetism and their motivational orientations and learning strategies. The 78 first-year geology and geophysics students followed a three-week PBL instruction in electromagnetism. The students' confidence was assessed…

The understanding of complex physiological processes requires information from many different areas of knowledge. To meet this interdisciplinary scenario, the ability of integrating and articulating information is demanded. The difficulty of such approach arises because, more often than not, information is fragmented through under graduation…

Use was made of adapted problem-based learning (PBL) practical exercises to address the disengagement of apprentices with the existing assembly-style electronic laboratory programme. Apprentices perceived the traditional routines as having little real-world relevance. This detracted from the value and benefit to them of the practical component of…

This research explores the experiences of a group of academics learning to teach with problem-based learning (PBL) and how a community of practice (COP) supported this transition. An action-research project evaluated both PBL experiences and group processes. Teachers were enthusiastic about PBL but experienced a variety of problems during the…

In a previous study, we established that compared to a written case, a video case enhances observable cognitive processes in the verbal interaction in a postgraduate problem-based learning format. In a new study we examined non-observable cognitive processes using a stimulated recall procedure alongside a reanalysis of the data from the first…

Two important challenges that teachers are currently facing are the sharing and the collaborative authoring of their learning design solutions, such as didactical units and learning materials. On the one hand, there are tools that can be used for the creation of design solutions and only some of them facilitate the co-edition. However, they do not…

Problem-based learning (PBL) is an instructional model that assumes the centrality of problems to learning. Research on PBL has focused on student learning, student roles, tutor roles, problem design, and technology use (Hung, Jonassen, & Liu, 2008), but little attention in the PBL literature has been paid to the nature of the problems that…

A problem-based learning approach was adopted for a unit of study in first year agricultural economics at the University of Sydney with the aim of starting development of students' research skills earlier than usual. The novel teaching approach employed a structured and guided problem activity in the first semester and progressed to a more…