This study compares direct instruction to two constructivist approaches, namely experimentation and problem-based learning, in fifth-grade science learning in Hong Kong. Constructivist instructional approaches, contrary to direct instruction, stress on students' active role in constructing knowledge in learning. Experimentation and problem-based…

This paper reports a case study of the manifestation of the teaching-research nexus in a research-active professor's classroom teaching of a research methods course targeting a cohort of Master of Education (MEd) students in early childhood education (ECE). The study was conducted at a research-intensive English-medium university in Hong Kong…

Whilst face-to-face tutorial group interaction has been the focus of quantitative and qualitative studies in problem-based learning (PBL), little work has explored the independent learning phase of the PBL cycle from an interactionist perspective. An interactional ethnographic logic of inquiry guided collection and analysis of video recordings and…

This paper describes the development and implementation of a novel pedagogy, dynamic problem-based learning. The pedagogy utilises real-world problems that evolve throughout the problem-based learning activity and provide students with choice and different data sets. This new dynamic problem-based learning approach was utilised to teach…

Many educational researchers have established problem-based learning (PBL) as a total approach to education--both a product and a process--from a pedagogical instructional strategy to skills development to assessment. This study provides qualitative evidences from educational practitioners in various professional disciplines, namely, Medicine,…

Mobile devices are increasingly being used by undergraduate students to access online information in the problem-based learning (PBL) process, initially in the self-directed phase, and more recently within face-to-face tutorials. This qualitative study across three undergraduate health professional programs used semi-structured interviews to…

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship of problem-based learning (PBL) and the development of critical thinking disposition (CT) and academic achievement in Chinese medical students using a cross-sectional randomized design. Medical students from China Medical University (CMU) were randomized to PBL or non-PBL teaching at the…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of problem-based learning (PBL) in higher education based on a large sample of first-year undergraduates from two programmes at a Hong Kong University (n=132). One programme uses an entirely problem-based approach to learning, whilst the other uses traditional methods.…

A tool used in student-centered education is discussion among students in small learning groups. The Western origin of student-centered education, coupled with cross-cultural differences in communication styles, may detract from its cross-cultural applicability. This study investigates how in student-centered education, students' cultural…

The goal of this study is to examine how to facilitate cross-cultural groups in problem-based learning (PBL) using online digital tools and videos. The PBL consisted of two video-based cases used to trigger student-learning issues about giving bad news to HIV-positive patients. Mixed groups of medical students from Canada and Hong Kong worked with…

This study determines the impact of problem-based learning on a preuniversity geography class. Learning activities include problem analysis, information collection, an examination of concepts, oral presentations, and group summaries in relation to current and perennial geographical issues of local and/or global concern. Assessment "for"…

This study investigated the role of collective knowledge building in promoting scientific inquiry and achievements among Hong Kong high-school chemistry students. The participants included 34 Grade 10 (15-16 years old) students who engaged in collective inquiry and progressive discourse, using Knowledge Forum®, a computer-supported collaborative…

We developed the Med-e-Conference, an online tool to teach clinical skills to medical students, which integrated problem-based learning with collaborative group tasks. The final task asked students to consider what they had done (reflection). These comments were analysed using content analysis, and 10 themes were elicited. The number of agreements…

Donald Schon's theory of reflective learning (1983, 1987) has been the model of professional education for decades. Yet little research is done to examine the role of practitioners as part-time teachers in professional education in light of his ideas. This research investigated four programmes of professional education in Hong Kong: (a) a master…

This study investigated the environmental learning of a group of senior geography students through a problem-based learning (PBL) field programme to see if the goals of education "for" the environment could be accomplished. In the PBL field programme, the students were given a problem statement concerning a real-life scenario of an old…