The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of a ubiquitous problem-based learning system (UPBLS) on students' question-raising performance in field inquiry activities. An experiment was conducted on an elementary school natural science course. A total of 43 sixth and fifth grade elementary students divided into experienced and…

This study aimed to identify salient problem characteristics perceived by students in problem-based curricula. To this end, reflective essays from biomedical students (N = 34) on characteristics of good problems were text-analyzed. Students identified eleven characteristics, of which they found the extent to which the problem leads to desired…

The first day of a course has great potential to set the tone for the entire course, planting the seeds for habits of mind and questioning and setting in motion expectations for classroom discourse. Rather than let the first meeting contain little besides going over the syllabus, the instructor (Lesser) decided to use two sustained open-ended…

Although several studies have shown that the problem-based learning (PBL) method promotes relevant professional skills as well as critical thinking and lifelong learning, some teachers remain sceptical regarding whether PBL is also adequate in acquiring the factual knowledge that students need. In this article, we describe an experience in which…

Research in general chemistry laboratory instruction has rarely focused on the impact of the learning environment on the graduate teaching assistants (GTAs). We decided to investigate the effect that facilitating a well established cooperative problem-based chemistry laboratory has on GTAs' epistemological and metacognitive development, and how…

Police educators, that is, police and non-police teachers involved in recruit education and training, have traditionally suffered from a lack of organisational focus on developing their teaching and learning practices. The New South Wales (NSW) Police College, which is currently implementing Problem Based Learning (PBL), has begun to take a more…

This study reports on the success of using a problem-based learning approach (PBL) as a pedagogical mode of learning open inquiry science within a traditional four-year undergraduate elementary teacher education program. In 2010, a problem-based learning approach to teaching primary science replaced the traditional content driven syllabus. During…

This study investigated the students' learning process of the concept of concentration at the elementary school level in Taiwan. The influence of different representational types on the process of proportional reasoning was also explored. The participants included nineteen third-grade and eighteen fifth-grade students. Eye-tracking technology was…

Design-based learning (DBL) is an educational approach grounded in the processes of inquiry and reasoning towards generating innovative artifacts, systems and solutions. The approach is well characterized in the context of learning natural sciences in secondary education. Less is known, however, of its characteristics in the context of higher…

The main aim of this study was to examine how a group of elementary students perceived their engagement in a project-based science intervention investigating the water quality of a local lake. The students collaborated with a scientist to conduct various experiments and used handheld computers to collect and analyze data in order to examine the…

This action research was a form of "appreciative enquiry" into my practice with my group of Bachelor in Education (TESL) students. I have adopted a postmodernist approach to research as narrative; that is "research as it is experienced" and not just "research as it is described". I used a project as an approach to…

In this paper, a course on applied superconductivity is described. The course structure is outlined and the learning objectives and the learning activities are described. The teaching was multidisciplinary given by four departments each contributing with their expertise. Being applied superconductivity, the focus was on an application, which could…

The introduction of problem-based learning (PBL) as an innovative strategy is often challenging to both teaching staff and students. This is particularly the case when it is only used on one module within a programme. This case study reports on an evaluation of the experiences of students and staff in the first cohort introduced to problem-based…

This paper seeks to compare the reflective writings of two cohorts of students (Year 4/5 and Year 8/9) participating in mathematical modelling challenges. Whilst the reflections of the younger cohort were results oriented, the older cohort's reflections spoke more to the affective domain, group processes, the use of technology and the acquisition…

Problem-based learning and technology support for students in higher education investigates the new perspectives of education in connection with the change of life paradigm. The present research seeks to find out what study methods and technology support can be used for developing students' creative experience in the context of education for…