Investigating the link between self directed learning readiness and project-based learning outcomes: the case of international Masters students in an engineering management course

Modern learning approaches increasingly have fewer structured learning activities and more self-directed learning tasks guided through consultation with academics. Such tasks are predominately project-/problem-based where the student is required to follow a freely guided road map to self discovery while simultaneously achieving desired learning outcomes for a particular course. However, many international students struggle to adjust to an Australian higher learning environment where they are being increasingly encouraged to undertake self directed learning (SDL). Thus, this paper proposes the concept that international students who have higher readiness for SDL gain greater learning outcomes from project-based learning (PBL) approaches. To achieve this objective, a questionnaire survey of 26 students (65% of class) completing an engineering management course was conducted. Linear regression analysis provided evidence that SDL readiness was a key enabler for achieving learning outcomes from PBL. In particular, having high self-management skills was shown to be the most significant and reliable predictor for achieving learning outcomes from PBL. Through understanding students SDL readiness at the commencement of their engineering programmes, academics can better tailor PBL support mechanisms to achieve desired learning outcomes.     

Factors affecting perceived learning of engineering students in problem based learning supported by business simulation

Although literature about problem based learning (PBL) is not scarce, there is little research on experiences about learning methodologies that combine PBL and the use of simulation tools. This lack of studies is even more notable in the case of engineering courses. The motivation for this study is to show how such a combination of PBL and simulation has been designed in a group work course for engineers and to analyze how the underlying factors of this methodology are related to perceived learning. This exploratory study focuses on how perceived enjoyment, interaction, collaborative learning, perceived satisfaction, and time dedicated to the course affect the learning perceived by the students in an engineer's degree course. The outcomes of this pilot study show that only three of these factors (satisfaction, time dedication, and collaborative learning) affect the students' perceived learning. Despite the high ratings obtained for interaction and perceived enjoyment, no significant relation between these factors and perceived learning was found. The reasons behind these findings are discussed.     

Problem-Based Learning in Social Work Education: Students’ Experiences in Denmark

Problem-based learning (PBL) constitutes a promising way of integrating academia and social work practice because PBL fosters engagement with real-life problems and enhances important skills needed in social work practice. However, little attention has been given to social work students’ experiences of PBL. In this article we address this gap by exploring experiences of learning and learning preferences among master’s-level students in a Danish social work education setting where extensive problem-based project work is used. We find a discrepancy between students’ preferred learning and when they experience learning the most. Possible reasons for this discrepancy, and implications for teaching, are discussed.     

Students' Perceptions of the Technological Supports for Problem-based Learning

This paper reports students' perceptions of the technological supports that assist problem-based learning (PBL). There are a number of tasks in the PBL processes, which can be supported by technological advances. A Web-based system has been developed to support the problem-based learning strategy. The system provides facilities to both teacher and students to facilitate learning and teaching. These include on-line teaching materials retrieval, a discussion area for problem analysis and brainstorming, a facility for project planning and monitoring, a private group area for the purposes of discussion, a facility for the submission of development work and learning resources, and a posting area to display good work to motivate students. The progress of the students can be monitored and feedback can be given to them. This paper presents a pilot study of student views of and preferences for various technological supports used to enhance learning effectiveness.     

PBL教学方法在高校《计算机基础》课程中的应用探究

基于问题的学习PBL(Problem—based Learning)是一种全新的教学模式,PBL强调要学生在问题意情境中学习,通过教师引导、学生自主学习、小组合作来解决问题,使学生形成自主学习的能力.在高校《计算机基础》课程中引入PBL教学方法,并实施具体的案例,通过对实施具体案例结果的分析后表明,该方法不仅有效的提高了学生使用计算机的应用能力,同时也培养了学生学习计算机知识的自主能力和兴趣.     

Learning to talk the educational psychology talk through a problem-based course

A sociocultural view of learning proposes that learning involves becoming enculturated into a community of practice. A step along the way is learning to use the specialized language of such a community, as language is a crucial tool that regulates participation, mediates cognition and plays a central role in the development of thought. Problem-based learning (PBL), with its emphasis on collaborative discourse, provides opportunities for students to develop the conceptual language of a discipline, which in turn affects cognition. In a problem-based undergraduate Educational Psychology course, many psychological theories, concepts and principles are introduced to pre-service teachers. During the course, as students learn through problem solving, they engage with new knowledge. This evolving knowledge requires new discourse structures that will allow students to express their new ideas and that will ultimately structure students' ways of knowing. The content of group and individual artifacts is analyzed to examine how PBL influences students' language and knowledge development over the course of the semester in an Educational Psychology class (n = 34). The goal of this paper is to present these analyses and to discuss how the change affects students' language and knowledge.     

网络环境下PBL的设计与应用分析

PBL（Problem-Based Learning）即基于问题的学习,是以学生为中心,围绕问题或项目展开学习活动的一种教学方法。与传统教学方法相比,PBL有利于学生学习资源的获取,有助于培养学生创新精神和创新能力。基于相关文献的研究,本文简述了PBL及其理论基础,详细介绍了PBL在国内外的研究现状及其学习过程,重点分析了网络环境下PBL的设计及其应用,为今后更好地实践PBL做进一步的完善和更深入的研究。     

PBL教学法在本科旅游管理专业教学中的实施研究

与传统教学法相比,PBL教学法是以问题为导向,让学生在解决问题的过程中,通过资料收集和查阅、交流与讨论获取相关的专业知识,这种教学方法更能调动学生的积极性和锻炼思维能力。文章在充分分析旅游管理专业教学目前存在问题的基础上,结合旅游管理专业培养目标和学科特点,提出PBL教学法与旅游管理专业教学的结合是完全可行的。详细梳理了PBL教学的过程,从问题设置、团队组建、学生学习到教师点评总结。文章最后就PBL教学法在旅游管理专业实施中存在的问题进行了分析,提出旅游管理专业教学应坚持PBL教学与传统教学法相结合的理念。     

Teacher's experiences in PBL: implications for practice

Project-Based Learning (PBL) has been implemented in the first year of the Industrial Engineering and Management programme at the University of Minho, Portugal, since 2004/2005. The purpose of this paper is to analyse and discuss teachers' experiences in PBL in this programme and to explore its implications for student learning and for teaching practices in higher education. For data collection, the research method used was written narratives to these teachers, at the end of the PBL semester. Findings suggest that teachers express a positive view of PBL as a learning approach. They identify student motivation and engagement, along with a better understanding of the application of concepts in real-life situations, as important outcomes of the project for students. Besides this, teachers also highlight the importance of the development of transversal skills by students throughout the project. Recommendations for future work and implications for practice will also be discussed.     

What students learn in problem-based learning: a process analysis

This study aimed to provide an account of how learning takes place in problem-based learning (PBL), and to identify the relationships between the learning-oriented activities of students with their learning outcomes. First, the verbal interactions and computer resources studied by nine students for an entire PBL cycle were recorded. The relevant concepts articulated and studied individually while working on the problem-at-hand were identified as units of analysis and counted to demonstrate the growth in concepts acquired over the PBL cycle. We identified two distinct phases in the process—an initial concept articulation, and a later concept repetition phase. To overcome the sample-size limitations of the first study, we analyzed the verbal interactions of, and resources studied, by another 35 students in an entire PBL cycle using structural equation modeling. Results show that students’ verbal contributions during the problem analysis phase strongly influenced their verbal contributions during self-directed learning and reporting phases. Verbal contributions and individual study influenced similarly the contributions during the reporting phase. Increased verbalizations of concepts during the reporting phase also led to higher achievement. We found that collaborative learning is significant in the PBL process, and may be more important than individual study in determining students’ achievement.     

A theory-driven approach to assessing the cognitive effects of PBL

Medical schools are increasingly looking to case-based formats such as problem-based learning (PBL) for their medical students. However, the effects of PBL have not been adequately assessed for an informed decision. An approach to assessment should consider not just the knowledge outcomes expected of all students, but should be tailored to the theoretical goals of PBL: clinical reasoning, integration of scientific and clinical knowledge, and lifelong learning skills. This means that problem-solving processes as well as products need to be measured. In addition, cognitive measures associated with expert performance can be used to assess the extent to which PBL affects the development of expertise. In this study, students taking an elective in PBL were compared with students taking other electives on a realistic pathophysiological explanation task. The problem-solving protocols were examined for coherence, use of science concepts, strategy use, and self-directed learning. The results indicate that cognitive measures can be used to distinguish students who have participated in PBL from their counterparts in terms of knowledge, reasoning, and learning strategies. This suggests that such measures may play a meaningful role in assessment of student learning.     

Zoology Students' Experiences of Collaborative Enquiry in Problem-based Learning

This paper presents an action-research case study that focuses on experiences of collaboration in a problem-based learning (PBL) course in Zoology. Our PBL model was developed as a research activity in partnership with a commercial organisation. Consequently, learning was grounded in genuine situations of practice in which a high degree of collaboration was essential for a successful outcome. A particular social context was established in which tutors and students endeavoured to interact as learners to negotiate and construct new understandings and develop life-long learning skills. Students valued the quality of working relationships, the democratic way in which group work was facilitated, and the opportunities for freedom of action and thought. During the course, participants achieved new insights into themselves as learners and this meta-cognitive skill was seen as important for developing the necessary competence in diagnostic self-assessment for PBL. Students had not previously encountered PBL and the transitional nature of their experiences is discussed.     

Problem-based learning effectiveness on micro-blog and blog for students: a case study

Problem-based learning (PBL) is regarded as an effective learning strategy to enhance cognition not only in traditional learning but also in e-learning. In e-learning settings, blogs and micro-blogs can plausibly provide a platform to conduct PBL. Recently, most studies on blogs and micro-blogs have respectively probed satisfaction and learning effectiveness. However, little effort has been made to explore their effectiveness on learning. Therefore, this study explored an application of a PBL approach on a micro-blog and blog by seventh-grade students taking an information ethics course; in particular, the effect of a micro-blog and blog on student learning with different learning achievement levels. Moreover, results showed that the micro-blog had more effect on PBL for low achievement students compared to the blog. This study suggests that using a micro-blog for PBL is more appropriate for the sake of maximizing learning effectiveness, if generally considering students with different learning achievement levels.     

Towards designing cognitively-enriched project-oriented courses within a blended problem-based learning context

Traditional education seems to gradually and moderately make way for self-directed and student-centred learning strategies that will efficiently enable students to reach their full potentials and will sufficiently prepare them for their upcoming professional careers. Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is such a strategy, since it enables active participation by shifting the focus from the delivery of knowledge to its creation by the students, in their endeavour to implement problem-based projects. PBL is more commonly used in project-oriented courses, where students have to not only build but also apply new knowledge in real world contexts and therefore familiarize themselves with work conditions. Online technologies, such as cognitive tools, are able to harmonize this shift by visualizing some of the more demanding steps of PBL as well as facilitating collaboration and knowledge building. The aim of this paper is to investigate the incorporation of cognitive technologies in project-oriented courses, using a Blended PBL strategy. To this end, we implement our findings in a Project Management postgraduate course. Based on the gathered results, we propose a framework that can guide the design of project-oriented courses and we argue that its adaptation can exploit the identified strengths and avoid the weaknesses and lead to successful and immersive learning processes.     

Problem-Based Learning for Foundation Computer Science Courses

The foundation courses in computer science pose particular challenges for teacher and learner alike. This paper describes some of these challenges and how we have designed problem-based learning (PBL) courses to address them. We discuss the particular problems we were keen to overcome: the purely technical focus of many courses; the problems of individual learning and the need to establish foundations in a range of areas which are important for computer science graduates. We then outline our course design, showing how we have created problem-based learning courses. The paper reports our evaluation of the approach. This has two parts: assessment of a trial, with a three-year longitudinal follow-up of the students; reports of student learning improve-ment after we had become experienced in full implementation of PBL. We conclude with a summary of our experience over three years of PBL teaching and discuss some of the pragmatic issues around introducing the radical change in teaching, maintaining staff support, and continuing refinement of our PBL teaching. We also discuss some of our approaches to the commonly acknowledged challenges of PBL teaching.     

Case study: use of problem-based learning to develop students' technical and professional skills

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a pedagogy that has attracted attention for many biomedical engineering curricula. The aim of the current study was to address the research question, ‘Does PBL enable students to develop desirable professional engineering skills?’ The desirable skills identified were communication, teamwork, problem solving and self-directed learning. Forty-seven students enrolled in a biomedical materials course participated in the case study. Students worked in teams to complete a series of problems throughout the semester. The results showed that students made significant improvements in their problem-solving skills, written communication and self-directed learning. Students also demonstrated an ability to work in teams and communicate orally. In conclusion, this case study provides empirical evidence of the efficacy of PBL on student learning. We discuss findings from our study and provide observations of student performance and perceptions that could be useful for faculty and researchers interested in PBL for biomedical engineering education.     

The 9-step problem design process for problem-based learning: Application of the 3C3R model

The design of problems is crucial for the effectiveness of problem-based learning (PBL). Research has shown that PBL problems have not always been effective. Ineffective PBL problems could affect whether students acquire sufficient domain knowledge, activate appropriate prior knowledge, and properly direct their own learning. This paper builds on the 3C3R problem design model, which is a systematic conceptual framework for guiding the design of effective and reliable problems for PBL. To help practitioners apply the 3C3R model, this paper introduces a 9-step problem design process. The initial steps guide an instructional designer through analyses on learning goal, content, and context to help select problems. Later steps ensure that the problem appropriately affords the specifications identified in the analyses. The last two steps incorporate a reflection component, as well as ensure the integrity of the 3C3R components in the problem.     

Moving Towards Problem‐based Learning

Abstract

This paper is based upon the reflections of teachers and students as they experience problem‐based learning (PBL) for the first time. A PBL exercise was integrated into a curriculum‐based Biology field course to meet specific learning requirements of students. The exercise created a new learning environment for both students and teachers, and PBL was evaluated as an educative strategy. The exercise could have been improved through more effective student support. Our experiences of PBL have encouraged us to look for other areas of the curriculum where problem‐based approaches could be incorporated to enrich student learning.