Background: This study posits that scaffolded team-based computational modeling and simulation projects can support model-based learning that can result in evidence of representational competence and regulatory skills. The study involved 116 students from a second-year thermodynamics undergraduate course organized into 24 teams, who worked on…

This paper explores how Problem-oriented Project Learning (PPL) can be organized in a context that meets the pedagogical needs of first year students. Under the assumption that, while PPL provides a fruitful context for learning, it is also challenging for early stage learners, the article formulates the theoretical considerations underlying a…

What effects does PBL have on student learning outcomes, knowledge acquisition, and higher order thinking skills? This question continues to influence the adoption and implementation of problem-based learning (PBL) since its inception. The answer to this overarching question is still lacking. This chapter responds to this question by first…

Can you ask students from three different bachelor programmes to help solve planning and routeing problems for hospitals? In the presented case an interdisciplinary approach was shown to be successful after some redesign. Students from Applied Mathematics, Civil Engineering and Industrial & Engineering Management jointly designed solutions for…

This article describes the use of "problem forums" in undergraduate professional writing courses as a technique for facilitating and sustaining learning from increasingly complex, messy, and wicked problems that are characteristic of 21st-century work. Problem forums are designed to scaffold project team discussions of rhetorical,…

This study explores students' perceptions of the effectiveness of a Problem-Based Learning (PBL) design project, taken as part of a first-year engineering module, in developing professional skills needed for engineering practice. Students completed surveys before and after the PBL group project, and produced personal reflections on the process.…

Actualizing education beyond the scope of traditional schooling and incorporating elements of critical pedagogy and social transformation are essential for efforts aiming to reduce inequalities and enhance the livelihoods of excluded populations. This article examines emancipatory education through a Freirean lens by considering its dimensions of…

The "flipped classroom" has gained in popularity as a new way to structure teaching in which lectures shift from in-class events to digitally-based homework, freeing up class time for practice exercises and discussion. However, critics note such a teaching strategy continues emphasis on the less effective techniques of the lecture as…

Empathy and interdisciplinarity are both concepts that are current and relevant--across professions, in research, and in academia. This paper describes a large, interdisciplinary, project-based assignment, the Empathy Project, which allows students to delve into and increase comfort and skill with interdisciplinary thinking and collaborative…

In the age of the Internet, students are clamoring for immersive and participatory learning experiences, but how can teachers share autonomy without losing control of their classrooms? In an effort to address this important question, this article suggests three mentorship modes that educators can employ in order to effectively engage with today's…

Raising academic standards has been part of the education policy discourse for decades. As early as the 1990s, states and school districts attempted to raise student achievement by developing higher standards and measuring student progress according to more rigorous benchmarks. However, the caliber of the standards--and their assessments--varied…

Under task-based language teaching (TBLT), language learners engage in purposeful, problem-oriented, and outcome-driven tasks that are comparable to real-world activities. This qualitative case study discusses the integration of a task-based approach into a TESOL course in a language teacher education program in Taiwan with regard to 39…

Design-based learning (DBL) is an educational approach grounded in the processes of inquiry and reasoning towards generating innovative artifacts, systems and solutions. The approach is well characterized in the context of learning natural sciences in secondary education. Less is known, however, of its characteristics in the context of higher…

Web 2.0 technologies have created a trend of user-generated content by supporting media production, collaboration, communication, and dissemination. User-generated content is translated into student-generated content (SGC) in education. SGC engages learners in an authentic project that fosters students' autonomy, creativity, and real-world…

Learn how to increase rigor so that all students can reach higher levels of learning! With this new edition of a teacher-tested best seller, you get practical ideas for increasing text complexity, providing scaffolding during reading instruction, creating open-ended projects, and much more. The enhanced second edition provides important…