The literature widely reports that pre-service teachers repeatedly demonstrate inadequate argumentation skills. Through a mixed-methods research approach, this study investigated the effectiveness of a holistic online scaffolding design for guiding the development of pre-service teachers' argumentation skills. Participants were randomly assigned…

Background: Developing self-directed learning (SDL) skills in engineering students is critical to support life-long learning. This research was conducted at Iron Range Engineering (IRE), an innovative, problem-based learning (PBL) engineering program, which has suffused the concept of metacognition throughout its curriculum. Purpose/Hypotheses:…

This case study presents a problem-based learning (PBL) model that guides general education history students to practice and acquire more advanced problem-solving skills -- those found in postformal thinking systems -- and to apply these thinking skills to develop and share solution alternatives both to periodized historical issues and to current…

Universal Design (UD) involves the creation of accessible, flexible products that are functional for a wide population of users. Our problem-based learning exercise challenges student teams to create products and services guided by the principles of UD. After teams generate their new product concept, a spokesperson from each team pitches it in…

Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is an effective teaching method in many fields, in particular the medical disciplines. Clinical embryology deals with all aspects of assisted conception including insemination and embryo transfer. Clinical embryologists deal with daily issues that require troubleshooting and problem solving. The aim of this study was…

Many universities throughout the world apply student-centered approaches. Common to these is that projects, problems, challenges etc. stem from "real life". Mathematics is an effective tool to solve problems, but in this paper, we discuss how we reconcile the fact that mathematics is both a pure and an applied discipline with…

The goal of this paper is to present several methods of visualizing student activity and collaboration in problem-based learning (PBL) in ways that can augment understanding of the complexity within PBL classrooms as well as to provide insights into the use of specific visual representations to address research questions in PBL. Grounded in…

The aim of this study is to showcase the use of incorporating problem-solving in a multifaceted, long-term investigation. New York Harbor and its estuaries are undergoing a major revitalization due to the efforts of the Curriculum and Community Enterprise for Environmental Restoration Project. Comprised of a network of local educational and…

Scaffolding is one of the critical features in a problem-based learning environment to address challenges associated with problem solving. While transfer of responsibility is considered as an ultimate goal in scaffolding that is adaptive and contingent, it is rarely studied and practiced. Thus, the purpose of this study was to inform a deeper…

This study highlights the importance of metacognitive awareness of economics students and examines the relationship between Problem-Based Learning (PBL) and Metacognitive awareness among economics students. This research was conducted in the Faculty of Economics, Universitas Negeri Malang of Indonesia by employing economics students as the subject…

The authors present mathematics problems related to the packaging of sporting goods which they used to motivate and engage their students in the USA. This article reports on a series of questions/problems that were explored in groups by the students in a college class designed for sophomores, as part of a program to prepare them to be teachers at…

This research aimed to explore the effect of problem-based STEM activities on middle school students' perceptions related to problem-solving skills and their critical thinking tendencies. The sample consisted of 81 students. A mixed method was employed in the research. The quantitative data collection tools were the "Critical Thinking…

The ability of students to perform quantitative analysis is a fundamental aspect of analytical chemistry courses and laboratories. In this laboratory experiment, students quantitatively analyze both liquid and solid samples through the use of internal standard calibration and ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. Using a problem-based approach to selecting their…

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to determine how students perceive groupwork and identify patterns of less successful groups in online challenge-based learning. Design/methodology/approach: This study involved 29 university students working in nine teams in an online challenge-based course. The authors applied Volet's (2001) Student Appraisal…

Case-based reasoning posits that learners can use their prior experience to solve new problems. This theory is cited to explain the benefits of problem-based learning (PBL), especially as it relates to knowledge structure development. However, critics argue that learners lack the relevant knowledge structures to simultaneously learn new content…