Problem-based learning is an approach to structuring the curriculum which involves confronting students with problems from practice which provide a stimulus for learning. However, there are many possible forms that a curriculum and process for teaching and learning might take and still be compatible with this definition. This book explores these…

This book provides a rationale, model, and procedures for implementing change in high schools. Focus is on adoption of applied, context-based, community-based education that eliminates competition between academic and vocational education and promotes cooperation in creating career-based education. Chapter 1 provides a review of how this type of…

This paper discusses the author's personal experiences in developing and implementing a problem-based college mathematics course for liberal arts majors. This project was initiated in response to the realization that most students are dependent on "patterning" learning algorithms and have no expectation that self-initiated thinking is a…

In its use of complex, real-world problems to introduce concepts and motivate learning in an active and cooperative learning environment, problem-based learning is a powerful alternative to the passive lecture in introductory college science. Use of technology and multimedia instruction, focus on large classes, and use of interdisciplinary…

Describes design and use of the PBL Evaluator, a computer-based method of evaluating dental students' clinical problem-solving skills. Analysis of Indiana University students' self-, peer, and tutor ratings for one iteration of a course in critical thinking and professional behavior shows differences in these ratings. The method is found useful…

While problem-based learning (PBL) has been found to be effective with gifted and average students (Hmelo-Silver, 2004), little is known about its impact on students with special needs. This study examines the perceptions of middle-school students with mild, moderate, and severe disabilities and of their teachers regarding the value of…

Our department has redesigned its electrical engineering and computer engineering programs completely by adopting a learning methodology based on competence development, problem solving, and the realization of design projects. In this article, we show how this pedagogical approach has been successfully used for learning compiler design.

SURFING GLOBAL CHANGE (SGC) serves as a procedural shell for attaining sustainable solutions for any interdisciplinary issue and is intended for use in advanced university courses. The participants' activities evolve through five levels from individual argumentation to molding one's own views for the "common good." The paradigm of…

This article presented a rationale for building partnerships into professional doctoral programs in educational leadership and a description of Saint Louis University's use of partnerships in its redesigned Ed.D. program. Although the program has been implemented, it continues to be a work in progress because of the underlying assumption that the…

This study examined learning transfer in adult acquisition of group process skills using a problem-based learning (PBL) approach to staff development in one school district. The study's theoretical framework included learning transfer, adult and organizational learning, and group work. Subjects, 29 instructional leaders and administrators,…

The Mechanical Engineering Section at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy has developed a comprehensive activity based course to introduce second year students to mechanical engineering design. The culminating design activity for the course requires students to design, construct and test robotic devices that complete engineering challenges. Teams of…

The plea of this bulletin, the second and full revision of The Problems Approach and the Social Studies copyrighted in 1955 and 1960, is for teachers to do more with the reflective method in their classrooms. It draws upon the latest and most pertinent insights distilled from research, theory, and practice associated with reflective thinking;…

A 3-year research program on workplace learning was based on action research and involved the gradual implementation of "Work Activity Briefings" every 2 weeks or whenever a major task was to be undertaken at selected construction sites managed by an Australian mining and construction company. The briefings were regular meetings between…

A large-group (110 students) pharmaceutics course, designed to use small-group case-based problem solving to address pharmaceutical manufacturing problems, is described; and student response to the course is examined. The 11 case studies used in the curriculum are summarized. The peer evaluation form is included. (MSE)

Examines the introduction of new teaching methods at eight medical schools participating in a large-scale medical curriculum development project, including problem-based learning, small-group learning, self-directed learning, instructional methods for integrating basic and clinical sciences, learning in outpatient settings, and computer-based…