A comparison of students’ reflective thinking across different years in a problem-based learning environment

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a constructivist approach to learning which is believed to promote reflective thinking in students. This study investigated how students in one particular institution developed in their reflective thinking habits—Habitual Action, Understanding, Reflection, and Critical Reflection—as they went through the daily practice of PBL. A 16-item questionnaire measuring the four levels of reflective thinking habits was administered to four cohorts of students: an incoming cohort, first-years, second-years, and third-years. First-year students rated themselves higher on Reflection and Critical Reflection, while third-years reported the highest levels of Habitual Action. Discriminatory and scatterplot analysis on the third year cohort revealed that while a proportion of students (47%) reported higher levels of Habitual Action with lower levels of Reflection, there was a small subgroup who also reported higher levels of both Habitual Action and Reflection. Overall, the results showed that PBL does promote the development of reflective thinking, particularly for first-year students, but that this development is not sustained consistently after that. This pointed to other possible factors that could hinder students’ development of reflective thinking in PBL.     

The work of an academic: Jack of all trades,or master of one?

Abstract

This paper stems from conversations between the authors who recently came to work together in staff and educational development. Having pursued different academic careers in Higher Education (HE), we questioned whether we had a common understanding of our academic community. In particular, we discussed two aspects. First, the extent to which our different disciplinary backgrounds influenced our perspectives on academic practice and our attitudes and approaches to staff and educational development. If we held different views on academic practice, how many other variations were we likely to encounter? Second, we felt it important to be sensitive to the needs of our colleagues in terms of their practices. The research that emanated from our discussions began with an empirical study, reported in this paper. We explore tensions between the various work activities performed by academics at the University of Sheffield. Eighty staff maintained a diary over a specified week early in the academic year 1997‐98. They recorded time spent on the activities of research, teaching, administration, external work, and professional development. Biographical data, including staff grade, length of service in HE, and length of service at the University were collected via a questionnaire attached to the diary. It would appear that the majority of academics surveyed support a role in both teaching and research, with a preference to spend more time on research at the expense of administration but not at the expense of teaching. These empirical data help us to understand more about the role of academics in changing times, and how we, as staff and educational developers, might become more effective and efficient.     

Does the extent of problem familiarity influence students’ learning in problem-based learning?

This study investigated the relationship between problem familiarity and students’ learning in a problem-based course. Problem familiarity in this study refers to the extent to which a problem fits with students’ prior knowledge and experiences. As part of regular course work, 172 students were given two problems on different occasions. These problems varied in the extent of problem familiarity. Students’ report of their learning activities and tutor’s assessment of the students’ learning were collected at the end of the problems. Results showed that both the students and tutors found the familiar problem to be better for learning. However, some elements of unfamiliarity may not be all that bad. For instance, unfamiliarity may result in more questioning, thinking and reasoning. However, this did not contribute to significant difference in terms of overall critical reasoning. Results also indicated a need to closely examine students’ critical reasoning (in terms of evaluating multiple perspectives) and students’ collaborative learning (in terms of brainstorming and discussion) when given familiar/unfamiliar problems.     

Scaffolding middle school students’ content knowledge and ill-structured problem solving in a problem-based hypermedia learning environment

This study investigated the effects of domain-general and domain-specific scaffolds with different levels of support, continuous and faded, on learning of scientific content and problem-solving. Students’ scores on a multiple-choice pretest, posttest, and four recommendation forms were analyzed. Students’ content knowledge in all conditions significantly increased from pretest to posttest. However, the continuous domain-specific condition outperformed the other conditions on the posttest. Although domain-general scaffolds were not as effective as domain-specific scaffolds on learning content and problem representation, they helped students develop solutions, make justifications, and monitor learning. Unlike domain-specific scaffolds, domain-general scaffolds helped students transfer problem-solving skills when they were faded. Several suggestions are discussed for making improvements in the design of scaffolds to facilitate ill-structured problem solving.     

Teachers’ assessment-related local adaptations of a problem-based learning module

Teachers’ implementation of a problem-based learning (PBL) program was examined to determine both how they assessed student learning and their reasons for these assessment practices. Ten 6th grade science teachers used Alien Rescue, a computer-based PBL module, with their students for approximately three weeks. Interviews, observations, and teacher-developed artifacts were analyzed qualitatively. The results suggest that assessment-related issues impacted the way that teachers implemented this PBL program, with teachers using grades as extrinsic motivators, deemphasizing PBL’ usual focus on student reflection on their process and solutions, and adding assignments to the PBL program in order to provide greater structure for students’ process and help prepare them for standardized tests. Some of these adaptations conflict with practices typically advocated in the literature on PBL. The implications of these results for the design of PBL programs are discussed, with an emphasis on supporting teachers’ (a) local adaptations of PBL materials and (b) professional development through educative components embedded in PBL programs.

The influence of students’ interest,ability and personal situation on students’ perception of a problem-based learning environment

The twofold purpose of this study is to identify engineering students’ perceptions of a problem-based learning environment and to analyse the influence of their personal situation, general interest in engineering and ability to succeed on their perception, after they were exposed to PBL for the first time. Based on an adjusted version of the problem-based learning environment inventory [Senocak, E. 2009. “Development of an Instrument for Assessing Undergraduate Science Students’ Perceptions: The Problem-based Learning Environment Inventory.” Journal of Science Education Technology 18 (6): 560–569], data regarding students’ perception were collected through a questionnaire survey and analysed by applying exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modelling. The analysis revealed a three-factorial PBL environment consisting of learning facilitator support, student responsibility and project quality, with strong influences of students’ personal situation on project quality, interest on the learning facilitator support and ability to succeed on students’ responsibility. Supporting students’ general interest in engineering seems to improve their perception of the learning facilitator support and ensuring students’ ability to succeed in a PBL environment seems to increase students’ awareness of their own responsibility.     

Students’ perceptions of a blended web-based learning environment

The enhanced accessibility, affordability and capability of the Internet has created enormous possibilities in terms of designing, developing and implementing innovative teaching methods in the classroom. As existing pedagogies are revamped and new ones are added, there is a need to assess the effectiveness of these approaches from the students’ perspective. For more than three decades, proven qualitative and quantitative research methods associated with learning environments research have yielded productive results for educators. This article presents the findings of a study in which Getsmart, a teacher-designed website, was blended into science and physics lessons at an Australian high school. Students’ perceptions of this environment were investigated, together with differences in the perceptions of students in junior and senior years of schooling. The article also explores the impact of teachers in such an environment. The investigation undertaken in this study also gave an indication of how effective Getsmart was as a teaching model in such environments.     

Can engineering education in South Africa afford to avoid problem-based learning as a didactic approach?

In this article, the authors support problem-based learning (PBL) based on its high level of alignment in addition to providing learners in engineering with an additional opportunity in learning process competencies, as contained within the South African National Critical Cross-field and Developmental Outcomes (COs). Constructive alignment describes a process in which the learning outcomes (LOs) become the objective for designing a curriculum that enables LOs to be achieved through appropriate activities and an assessment process that enables these LOs to be demonstrated. PBL applies problem-solving as a vehicle in achieving LOs. The degree to which a learner manages to achieve a given LO still serves as the authentic criteria for assessment. In addition, PBL provides learners an opportunity in acquiring non-subject-related skills, also referred to as process competencies, soft-skills, transferable skills, or graduate attributes. These skills are required especially for the management of human capital and are considered as crucial for successful practice in the engineering profession. It is therefore questioned why a PBL approach is not implemented by engineering faculties at South African Higher Education Institutions. The successful implementation of PBL, however, depends on a number of non-didactic issues that are highlighted in this paper. It is concluded that very few didactic methods can achieve the quality of learning we provide to engineering learners when using PBL, and therefore, it is proposed that South African Higher Education Institutions should also provide their academic staff with training opportunities in this regard.     

Students’ development of socio-scientific reasoning in a mobile augmented reality learning environment

In this study we investigated how a newly developed learning environment that integrates mobile augmented reality (AR) technology supported students’ socio-scientific reasoning (SSR). Drawing upon the reasoned action theory, we consider the roles of students’ attitudes toward SSR before learning, and their cognitive and emotional engagement during learning in the students’ actual performance of SSR. The implementation results indicate the impact of the learning environment on students’ scientific knowledge and attitude change. Moreover, we identified a significant path of how the students developed their SSR by the interactions among their attitude toward SSR, and their cognitive and emotional engagement in the mobile AR learning environment. On the other hand, the students’ post-learning attitudes toward SSR were dominated by their pre-learning attitudes. Implications and suggestions are discussed.     

Students’ approaches to learning and assessment preferences in a portfolio-based learning environment

This study focused on the relationships between experiences with portfolio assessment, students’ approaches to learning and their assessment preferences by means of a pre- and post-test design in an authentic class setting. The participants were 138 first-year professional bachelor’s degree students in office management. They were assessed by means of portfolio assessment in a course that combined constructivist design principles and lectures. Approaches to learning and assessment preferences were measured by means of the Revised Two-Factor Study Process Questionnaire and the Assessment Preferences Inventory. Results showed that students’ preferences for student participation in examination and for permanent evaluation decreased significantly. Moreover, deep approaches were not enhanced. On the contrary, surface learning increased significantly. Notwithstanding, the surface approach proved to be a significant negative predictor of the portfolio assessment score.     

Knowledge acquisition and environmental values in a microplastic learning module: Does the learning environment matter?

Microplastic pollution is a growing issue of concern requiring appropriate classroom instruction. Educational initiatives within this context are supposed to provide relevant background knowledge, raise awareness, and ideally lead to sustainable behavior. We implemented an identical educational module within two different learning environments: formal (in-school) and informal (out-of-school). In both settings, 444 primary school students self-reliably completed hands-on activities at workstations. We monitored students' short-term (directly after the module) and long-term (after six weeks) cognitive achievement. Additionally, when examining the participants' environmental values (Preservation, Utilization) and the Appreciation of Nature, the program similarly appealed to all students independent of the environmental values' intensity. Preservation, Utilization, and the Study Group predicted knowledge levels after program participation; Appreciation did not. While Preservation positively influenced knowledge, Utilization did the contrary. Subsequent implications on learning strategies based on our results are discussed.     

Lesson Study: towards a collaborative approach to learning in Initial Teacher Education?

Lesson Study (LS) case studies were conducted in two secondary school teaching practice placements in England. Using Dudley’s framework, Geography and Modern Languages trainees and school-based colleagues collaboratively planned a ‘research lesson’. This was taught by the mentor while the trainee and other teachers observed the learning of three ‘focus’ students. The lesson was reviewed and revised for teaching to a parallel group by the trainee and the cycle of observation and evaluation was repeated. In post-lesson study interviews, analysed from a Communities of Practice perspective, mentors claimed that LS facilitated rapid integration of the prospective teacher into departmental working practices while trainees claimed they benefited from the team approach inherent in LS. The process enabled participants to explore collaboratively the ‘pedagogic black-box’ enriching the experience and learning of both trainees and mentors. Successfully integrated, LS improves support for teacher development in teaching practice placements.     

Fostering the analytical competency of pre-service teachers in a computer-supported case-based learning environment: A matter of perspective?

Analytical competency in classroom situations can be seen as a crucial aspect of teachers' professional competency. While case-based learning is considered to have great potential for teacher education, particularly with respect to the promotion of teachers' analytical skills, there have been very few attempts to investigate the effects of corresponding instructional support. The present empirical study investigated the effects of instructional support in the form of multiple perspectives (i.e. authentic comments made by teachers and learners) and the presentation format of these perspectives in a computer-supported case-based learning environment which was based on the principles of cognitive flexibility theory. Twenty-nine foreign-language student teachers participated in the study. Experimental groups were presented with multiple perspectives in a video (plus audio track) or audio-track format. A control group did not have access to these multiple perspectives. The instructional support with multiple perspectives positively influenced learning processes and outcomes with respect to a central dimension of analytical competency – learners' ability to apply conceptual knowledge to case information. Learners with access to multiple perspectives as “audio only” outperformed learners in the “audio + video” condition, who did not substantially differ from the control group.     

Implications of the learning environment in a professional Master’s degree in business administration in Brazil

Learning Environments Research - This study focused on the implications of a learning environment in a professional Master’s degree in business administration in Brazil. The study was...     

The acquisition of integrated science process skills in a web‐based learning environment

Web‐based learning is becoming prevalent in science learning. Some use specially designed programs, while others use materials available on the Internet. This qualitative case study examined the process of acquisition of integrated science process skills, particularly the skill of controlling variables, in a web‐based learning environment among grade 5 children. Data were gathered primarily from children’s conversations and teacher–student conversations. Analysis of the data revealed that the children acquired the skill in three phases: from the phase of recognition to the phase of familiarization and finally to the phase of automation. Nevertheless, the acquisition of the skill only involved the acquisition of certain subskills of the skill of controlling variables. This progression could be influenced by the web‐based instructional material that provided declarative knowledge, concrete visualization and opportunities for practise.     

Is there a role for direct instruction in problem-based learning? Comparing student-constructed versus integrated model answers

Problem-based learning (PBL) requires students to formulate learning issues that need to be answered by studying multiple literature resources. Advocates of high instructional guidance argue that this is too cognitively demanding for students and ineffective for learning. Therefore, we examined the effects of studying an integrated model answer in the self-study phase in PBL. Participants (N = 62) engaged in a simulated group discussion, ending with the establishment of learning issues. Then they either studied integrated model answers to the learning issues, or undertook a standard PBL self-study phase in which students needed to construct their own answers based on multiple literature resources. Higher learning outcomes were obtained for the participants who studied integrated model answers when compared to the participants who constructed their own answers. These higher learning outcomes were obtained with lower investment of self-study and equal investment of mental effort during learning.     

The effect of goal-setting prompts in a blended learning environment—evidence from a field experiment

Previous literature has shown that task-based goal-setting and distributed learning is beneficial to university-level course performance. We investigate the effects of making these insights salient to students by sending out goal-setting prompts in a blended learning environment with bi-weekly quizzes. The randomized field experiment in a large mandatory economics course shows promising results: the treated students outperform the control group. They are 18.8% (0.20 SD) more likely to pass the exam and earn 6.7% (0.19 SD) more points on the exam. While we cannot causally disentangle the effects of goal-setting from the prompt sent, we observe that treated students use the online learning platform earlier in the semester and attempt more online exercises compared to the control group. The heterogeneity analysis suggests that higher treatment effects are associated with low performance at the beginning of the course.     

Facebook: An online environment for learning of English in institutions of higher education?

Facebook (FB) is currently considered as the most popular platform for online social networking among university students. The purpose of this study is to investigate if university students consider FB as a useful and meaningful learning environment that could support, enhance and/or strengthen their learning of the English language. A survey was carried out with 300 undergraduate students at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Penang. It was found that the students believed FB could be utilized as an online environment to facilitate the learning of English. Nevertheless, teachers or language instructors have to integrate FB as an educational project with pre-determined learning objectives and outcomes for the learning experience to be meaningful. It is suggested that future research should focus on the meaningfulness of FB to students' language learning experiences.     

Competition and students’ perceptions in a game-based language learning environment

Although educational games have become quite popular in recent research, only a limited number of studies have focused on the effectiveness of these games. While numerous claims have been made about the effectiveness of games, the studies that examine educational effectiveness often contain flaws resulting in unclear conclusions. One possible solution for these shortcomings is to focus on separate game elements rather than on games as a whole. A second solution is to take into account students’ perceptions of instruction as they are likely to affect students’ interpretations and learning outcomes. This study investigated whether the addition of the gaming element ‘competition’ to a computer-based language learning environment is related to students’ motivation, perceptions and learning outcomes. Additionally, this study probed into the effect of instruction, i.e., the instruction of a gaming or learning environment, on students’ perceptions of the environment, their motivation and learning outcomes. 83 students participated in this study, all working in a game-based learning environment for learning business English conversation skills. The results demonstrate that competition is not significantly related to students’ learning gains and only partly related to students’ motivation. Moreover, the majority of students perceived the environment as a learning environment, even when they were instructed to be playing in a gaming environment. To conclude this paper, the practical and theoretical implications for the fields of instructional design and educational games research are discussed.