Problem-Based Learning, despite recent controversies about its effectiveness, is used extensively as a teaching method throughout higher education. In meteorology, there has been little attempt to incorporate Problem-Based Learning techniques into the curriculum. Motivated by a desire to enhance the reflective engagement of students within a…

Providing students with assignments that focus on critical thinking is an important part of their scientific and intellectual development. However, as class sizes increase, so does the grading burden, prohibiting many faculty from incorporating critical thinking assignments in the classroom. In an effort to continue to provide our students with…

This experimental study aims to determine pre-service teachers' achievements and key factors that affect the learning process with regard to problem-based learning (PBL) and lecture-based computer course (LBCC) conditions. The research results showed that the pre-service teachers in the PBL group had significantly higher achievement scores than…

Problem based learning (PBL) is often introduced in curricula in form of short segments. In the literature the value of these PBL-islands is doubted. In order to gain more insight in this curricular approach, we compared student generated learning issues, from a 7-week PBL-island introduced in a traditional curriculum (PBL-I), with the gold…

Problem solving has been increasingly used as an important approach to learning especially in ill-structured domains. It is assumed that knowledge can be better consolidated and extended through problem-solving experience. However, many learners do not have the ability to separate general knowledge from specific cases, which inhibits successful…

In order to achieve their course learning outcomes, public affairs instructors can train students to solve real community problems (SRCP). This approach focuses on the learners themselves and aims to transform the role of college professors from traditional teaching (lecturing) to facilitating and coaching students' learning activities. This study…

Contrary to classical problem-based learning, in guided problem-based learning, the learning goals are predetermined by the instructor--on the basis of a detailed decomposition of the subject matter to be studied--to activate prior knowledge and to structure self-study and subsequent group discussion. This study investigated the effects of…

In light of considerable debate centering on the value of higher education and its effect on student preparation for the world of work, this article describes new methods employed in teaching an introductory professional course and the outcomes of its initial offerings. This case study supports research indicating that problem-based learning is an…

Problem-based learning (PBL) was originally introduced in medical education programs as a form of small-group learning, but its use has now spread to large undergraduate classrooms in various other disciplines. Introduction of new teaching techniques, including PBL-based methods, needs to be justified by demonstrating the benefits of such…

There is a hunger for effective teacher equipping programs for adult volunteer teachers in the educational ministry of today's churches. In addition, these programs for volunteer teachers need to be well-suited for adult learners and relevant to their real-life situations. The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the effects of…

Disputes about the impact of instructional guidance during teaching have been ongoing for more than a half century. On one side of this argument are those who believe that all people--novices and experts alike--learn best when provided with instruction that contains unguided or partly guided segments. On the other side are those who believe that…

Colleges and universities have long emphasized undergraduate research experiences as valuable activities for students. Collegiate honors programs in particular have embraced the role of student research as an integral experience for high-ability students, leading the way in developing the thesis-based model of undergraduate research that is…

In problem-based learning (PBL), students working in collaborative groups learn by resolving complex, realistic problems under the guidance of faculty. There is some evidence of PBL effectiveness in medical school settings where it began, and there are numerous accounts of PBL implementation in various undergraduate contexts, replete with…

The study investigates (1) the effectiveness of using eLearning-embedded stories and pictures in order to improve learning outcomes for students and (2) how universities can adopt innovative approaches to the creation of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) resources and embed them in educational technology for teaching domain-specific content, such as…

Many different versions of Problem-based Learning (PBL) are used today. To be consistent in evaluating the effectiveness of PBL, the focus in this paper is on what Howard Barrows called authentic PBL (aPBL). In aPBL students are empowered with the learning process; key distinguishing features are that the students teach each other the new…