This study explored engineering educators' perspectives on their professional learning in a pedagogical development programme with the ultimate goal of achieving educational change in African countries through the adoption of PBL methodology. This study was based on a three-year-long programme organised by a Danish university through an Erasmus…

Investigating the optical properties of various chemical compounds using UV-vis spectrophotometers is an essential part of education in chemistry. However, commercial spectrophotometers are usually treated as "magic black boxes", where the dominant majority of optical elements are hidden "under the hood". This often limits…

This paper explores how the concept of "the facilitator as a fool" can be used as a guiding principle for supervising students at universities adhering to problem-based learning pedagogies. With the example of students enrolled at spatial planning studies, the paper argues that students should learn how to face uncertainty and take…

Even though using group examinations aligns well with the epistemology of problem-based learning (PBL), the dilemma of using joint learning while simultaneously fulfilling individual assessment requirements in higher education make group examinations difficult to use. In this study, the aim was to explore whether an individual reflection paper…

Purpose: Using a Problem Based Learning (PBL) approach, this paper examines whether internships can stand as a viable alternative to Higher Degree Apprenticeships (HDAs) within the UK Higher Education (HE) context. It was a process that was undertaken to identify work-integrated schemes as a part of a curriculum portfolio transformation project.…

This paper provides a conceptual elaboration of the role of Problem-based Learning (PBL) in the integration of social sciences and humanities (SSH) with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and an analysis of the challenges this brings about. SSH-STEM integration is an endeavor that is timely, relevant, and urgent given the…

To enable interactive remote education on electrical safety in biomedical engineering, a real-life problem-based laboratory module is proposed, implemented and evaluated. The laboratory module was implemented in a freestanding distance course in hospital safety for three consecutive years and was based on electrical safety for medical devices,…

Open Networked Learning (ONL) is a collaborative open online course for higher education educators worldwide, focusing on open education, collaborative learning, and course design. The interorganizational course welcomes both institutional and open learners from around 30 nations. Delivered 17 times since 2014 with up to 120 participants in each…

Purpose: Problem-based learning (PBL) has been suggested as an approach to education for sustainable development (ESD); however, the integration of interdisciplinarity is continuously challenged as it requires transfer and collaboration across disciplinary boundaries, as well as integration into an often already-overflowing curriculum. Even in…

This paper presents a model which can be used to help teachers to design pedagogical opportunities for meaningful reflections in higher education. Within the PBL Future initiative of Aalborg University, we worked with a group of students from different study programmes and levels. In a three-semester long process these students engaged in a series…

Sustainability transitions need professionals with specific skills and attitudes that students often do not develop in their regular chemistry education. To foster sustainability change-maker competencies, we suggest augmenting higher education curricula, e.g., chemical degree programs, with transdisciplinary challenge-based learning combined with…

The overarching theme of this research was to explore different aspects of the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education experience across cultures and contexts in two engineering education communities, higher education and K-12. This dissertation offers new perspectives and resources to the engineering education community and…

Variations in PBL [problem-based learning] implementation need to be seen as the norm rather than the exception, since local PBL practice will always diverge from the "original model". In order to understand this phenomenon, this conceptional paper first systematizes variations in PBL implementation at the inter-institutional,…

This paper presents an empirical study and related activity system analysis regarding the implementation and use of Moodle specifically, and learning management systems in general, in problem-based learning. The research involved an exploration of the characteristics that defined use of Moodle at a Danish university, the reasons why Moodle was or…

Supervision in higher education (HE) often balances the tension between fostering student autonomy and providing sufficient guidance, especially within undergraduate programs. This paper explores an under-researched area: the dynamics of group supervision in undergraduate education, specifically how students challenge their supervisor's expertise.…