This study used an online-structured interview methodology to examine the impact of an intensive field experience in facilitating problem (PBL) and project-based learning (PjBL) on teachers' pedagogy. The purpose of the study was to determine to what extent the field experience had transformed their teaching. Data were collected in the form of…

With increasing adoption of the problem-based learning (PBL) model, creative approaches to enhancing facilitator training and optimizing resources to maintain effective learning in small groups is essential. We describe a theoretical framework for the development of a PBL facilitator training program that uses the constructivist approach as the…

Over the past forty years, Howard Barrows' contributions to PBL research have influenced and guided educational research and practice in a diversity of domains. It is necessary to make visible to all PBL scholars what has been accomplished, what is perceived as significant, and what is the scope of applicability for Barrows' groundbreaking…

In the 1970s, Egon Bitner offered a critique of police academy training, signified by the ability to train compliant soldier-bureaucrats rather than competent practitioners. Over the years, subsequent training models have been implemented, evaluated, and modified in an attempt to exceed what has been deemed adequate training. This research…

Groups are central to problem-based learning (PBL) and educational and professional outcomes relevant to clinical education. However, PBL groups in practice may differ from theoretical conceptions of groups. Therefore, this study explored students' understandings of the purpose and value of PBL groups for their learning. We conducted a…

Problem-based learning (PBL) has been gaining in popularity, especially within the context of STEM-based (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) schools. Program assessments for these schools typically focus on student standardized test scores rather than the needs of the teachers. This study utilized anecdote circles, storytelling via…

Teachers need to be able to design and implement problem-based learning (PBL) experiences to help students master the content and the processes in new mathematics and science education standards. Due to the changed population of learners within schools, it is also critically important that teachers in the elementary grades have the abilities to…

Promoting and sustaining effective discussion--that which contributes to learning--is a skill that eludes many instructors (Darling-Hammond, 2008; Ge, Yamashiro, & Lee, 2000). This study explored the role and strategies of an expert instructor in an online advanced instructional design (ID) course that utilized a case-based learning (CBL)…

An important aspect of PBL problems is the affordances that they hold for engaging students in discussion of important content knowledge. In this paper, I argue that one can analyze a problem in terms of a deep problem space and a broader learning space to identify the conceptual ideas for potential engagement. The problem space refers to the…

Although Malaysia was the first country in Asia to adopt problem-based learning (PBL), the impact that this has had on its tutors remains largely unexplored. This paper details a qualitative study of the changing perceptions of teaching roles in two groups of problem-based learning tutors in two institutional contexts--one in medicine located in…

While problem solving is a relatively well understood process, problem framing is less well understood, particularly with regard to supporting students to learn as they frame problems. Project-based learning classrooms are an ideal setting to investigate how teachers facilitate this process. Using participant observation, this study investigated…

We administered the Jefferson Scale of Empathy and the Groningen Reflection Ability Scale to 61 of 64 entering medical students who self-selected a problem-based learning curricular track and to 163 of 198 who self-selected a lecture-based track (response rates of 95.3% and 82.3%, respectively, with no statistically significant differences in mean…

Previous research indicates the importance of student discourse in the construction of knowledge and the fostering of critical thinking skills, especially in the field of problem-based learning (PBL). Further, a growing body of research on game-based learning (GBL) draws parallels between playing certain types of games and the solving of…

This study investigates the ways in which medical students' achievement goal orientations (AGO) affect their perceptions of learning and actual learning from an online problem-based learning environment, Calibrated Peer Review™. First, the tenability of a four-factor model (Elliot & McGregor, 2001) of AGO was tested with data collected from…

This paper describes the design and development process used to create Alien Rescue, a multimedia-enhanced learning environment that supports problem-based learning (PBL) in middle school science. The goal of the project is to further our understandings of technology, pedagogy, and instructional theories as they relate to the application of PBL…