It is often assumed that problem-based learning is an effective approach for fostering the development and/or improvement of students' critical thinking. To shed light on the connection between problem-based learning and critical thinking, this scoping review maps out how the notion of critical thinking is conceptualized in relation to…

Educators in the twenty-first century need to think of innovative ways to engage and prepare students for current and future challenges while cultivating an interest among students in STEM disciplines. This study sought to investigate the impact of problem-based learning on students' content knowledge and critical thinking towards STEM. This study…

The aim of this paper is to raise awareness of problem-based learning (PBL) and more specifically the problem analysis as a set of learning principles and practices offering the potential to bridge higher education to the complexities and uncertainties of science and society. Literature on PBL often argues that PBL supports education aimed at…

Assessment validity, reliability, and constructive alignment to planned learning outcomes are less understood in the context of integrated, problem-based curricula. This conceptual paper examines a Triple Jump Assessment (TJA) employed as a formative and summative assessment system in the first year of an undergraduate dental program.…

This paper denotes the findings from an action research project, which applied problem-based learning (PBL) in linguistics courses in an MA TESOL program in Vietnam. The project aimed to study the extent to which the use of problem-based tasks in semantic courses could promote students' employment of higher-order thinking skills in their learning.…

Innovative teaching concepts such as problem-based learning (PBL) can make a difference in an academic setting, particularly when dealing with diversity, and support the successful completion of students' studies. Introducing new approaches to teaching requires the professionalization of the teaching staff and the development of new tools. As a…

In this study, we focus on a process of change in a polytechnic school in Denmark where the school management team decided to promote a non-traditional pedagogical approach. We examine teachers' moral evaluation of their own teaching, of students, and of learning during this transition in order to grasp the degree to which teachers needed to…

Case-based instruction (CBI) provides a way to vicariously engage preservice teachers in their future teaching realities. However, little research has considered how different discussion facilitation strategies relate to the development of preservice teachers' instructional design (ID) skills. We used an embedded mixed methods case study research…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of perceived problem quality in the relationship between students' (N = 226) achievement goals and autonomous motivation to study in a problem-based learning (PBL) environment. Specifically, the relationships between students' achievement goals (mastery-approach, performance-approach,…

The current review employed bibliometric review methods to analyze 14,130 Scopus-indexed documents on problem-based learning published from 1972 through the end of 2019. The goals of the review were to describe the landscape and analyze the evolution of topical foci of interdisciplinary research on PBL over the past five decades. The review…

Teachers adapt their instructional strategies over time based on a variety of contextual constraints. In response to these challenges, teachers often have to make changes to their PBL approaches. While the literature has documented generally positive results of initial PBL implementations, less is known about the degree to which teachers adapt…

This study aims to explore the effects of argumentation with the concept map method during medical problem-based learning (PBL) on individual clinical reasoning. Individual clinical reasoning ability was assessed through problem-solving performance and arguments that students constructed during individual clinical reasoning processes. Toulmin's…

This conceptual article begins with a general definition of reflection and the soft skills of PBL: collaboration, agency, and metacognition. Then it presents theoretical frameworks for reflection from second language teacher education (SLTE) (Farrell, 2015; Pennington & Richards, 2016) and illustrates six types of reflection with examples from…

Practitioners in the field of pharmacy are often confronted with ill-structured problems. Specifically, pharmacists are tasked with making patient-specific recommendations that are both safe and effective, which requires combining knowledge from the biomedical, behavioral, and pharmaceutical sciences. Given the dynamic nature of pharmacy as a…

The article profiles a project addressing a central issue in reform-driven STEM education--the need to align educational experiences with real-world STEM. The interdisciplinary program aimed for authenticity by purposefully designing an authentic PBL project and incorporating STEM professionals as volunteer facilitators. These volunteers enhanced…