Problem Based Learning s3

Problem based Learning

ICT-Supported, Scenario-Based Learning in Preclinical Veterinary Science Education: Quantifying Learning Outcomes and Facilitating the Novice-Expert Transition (EJ976021)
Author(s): / Seddon, Jennifer M.; McDonald, Brenda; Schmidt, Adele L.
Source: / Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, v28 n2 p214-231 2012
/ Pub Date: / 2012-00-00
Pub Type(s): / Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Peer Reviewed: / Yes
Descriptors:
Veterinary Medical Education; Computer Uses in Education; Problem Based Learning; Case Method (Teaching Technique); Genetics; Premedical Students; Outcomes of Education; Learner Engagement; Student Attitudes; Foreign Countries
Abstract:
Problem and/or scenario-based learning is often deployed in preclinical education and training as a means of: (a) developing students' capacity to respond to authentic, real-world problems; (b) facilitating integration of knowledge across subject areas, and; (c) increasing motivation for learning. Six information and communication technology (ICT) supported, scenario-based learning (SBL) problems using case studies that integrated information across subject areas were implemented in a second-year genetics course for undergraduate veterinary science students and linked to educational outcomes. On a post-implementation questionnaire, students appreciated the use of authentic scenarios but login records indicated variable engagement among students. Comparison of learning outcomes from SBL-supported and non-SBL-supported content (within and across student cohorts) indicated that exposure to SBL generated quantifiable improvements in learning in both high and low ability students. Despite this, students did not perceive that the SBL activities improved their learning. Thus, ICT-supported SBL have the potential to reinforce connectivity of content across a range of pre-clinical courses, but to facilitate a genuine novice to expert transition may require consideration of students' perceptions of scenario relevance, their confidence, and how students of differing learning styles engage with such activities.

Using Electronic Resources to Support Problem-Based Learning (EJ969340)
Author(s): / Chang, Chen-Chi; Jong, Ay; Huang, Fu-Chang
Source: / Journal of Educational Computing Research, v46 n2 p195-206 2012
/ Pub Date: / 2012-00-00
Pub Type(s): / Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Peer Reviewed: / Yes
Descriptors:
Educational Resources; Structural Equation Models; Problem Based Learning; Internet; Teaching Methods; Skill Development; Peer Relationship; Facilitators (Individuals); Group Activities; Computer Assisted Instruction; Educational Technology; Questionnaires; Statistical Analysis; College Students; College Instruction; Online Searching
Abstract:
Students acquire skills in problem solving and critical thinking through the process as well as team work on problem-based learning courses. Many courses have started to involve the online learning environment and integrate these courses with electronic resources. Teachers use electronic resources in their classes. To overcome the problem of the limited teaching resources, electronic resources can help students to engage in self-learning more easily. This study addresses electronic resources usage in problem-based learning. Therefore, the aim of this article is to investigate the relationship between the capability to use electronic resources and problem-based learning performance. A quantitative analysis was conducted through the structural equation modeling approach in order to indicate the direction and relationship between these constructs. To conclude, this study suggests that tutor support, peer participation, and internet search capability should be conceptualized as forming part of an important learning context. Further, the results indicate that both peer participation and internet search capability are required to facilitate the development of problem-solving skills

Designing for Problem-Based Learning: A Comparative Study of Technology Professional Development (ED534307)
Author(s): / Ye, Lei; Walker, Andrew; Recker, Mimi; Leary, Heather; Robertshaw, M. Brooke; Sellers, Linda
Source: / Online Submission, US-China Education Review B 5 p510-520 2012
/ Pub Date: / 2012-00-00
Pub Type(s): / Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Peer Reviewed:
Descriptors:
Electronic Learning; Technology Integration; Problem Based Learning; Rating Scales; Educational Technology; Comparative Analysis; Teacher Attitudes; Pedagogical Content Knowledge; Educational Resources; Inservice Teacher Education; Education Courses; Federal Programs; Internet; Computer Software; Instructional Design; Web Sites; Instructional Materials; Pretests Posttests; Control Groups; Questionnaires; Teacher Surveys; Use Studies; Teacher Workshops; Student Attitudes; Science Instruction; Mathematics Instruction; Curriculum Implementation; Statistical Analysis
Abstract:
Despite of much focus on professional development aimed specifically at developing teachers' technology integration skills, rigorous studies of effective PD (professional development) are lacking. Evidence is also lacking on how these skills can best be integrated with pedagogical and content knowledge to improve student learning. The purpose of this article is to present two "design-oriented" TTPD (technology-related teacher professional development) designs and investigate the designs' impact on teachers. In one TTPD (tech-only), teachers learned technology skills to create activities using online learning resources. In the other (tech+PBL), teachers learned to create PBL (

The Power of Problem-Based Learning in Developing Critical Thinking Skills: Preparing Students for Tomorrow's Digital Futures in Today's Classrooms (EJ923829)
Author(s): / Kek, Megan Yih Chyn A.; Huijser, Henk
Source: / Higher Education Research and Development, v30 n3 p329-341 2011
/ Pub Date: / 2011-00-00
Pub Type(s): / Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Peer Reviewed: / Yes
Descriptors:
Problem Based Learning; Critical Thinking; Thinking Skills; Teaching Methods; Role; Information Technology
Abstract:
This article describes problem-based learning as a powerful pedagogical approach and an aligned teaching and learning system to explicitly and directly teach critical thinking skills in a broad range of disciplines. Problem-based learning is argued to be a powerful pedagogical approach as it explicitly and actively engages students in a learning and teaching system, characterised by reiterative and reflective cycles of learning domain-specific knowledge and doing the thinking themselves. At the same time, students are guided and coached by the problem-based learning teacher, who models critical thinking skills in the acquisition of the domain-specific knowledge. This article will explore what critical thinking actually means. What are critical thinking skills? How best to teach such skills? What is the potential role of problem-based learning in teaching critical thinking skills? Finally, the article reflects on how critical thinking can be developed through problem-based learning as a pedagogical approach in an aligned learning and teaching context

Effects on Learners' Performance of Using Selected and Open Network Resources in a Problem-Based Learning Activity (EJ972590)
Author(s): / Hsu, Ching-Kun; Hwang, Gwo-Jen; Chuang, Chien-Wen; Chang, Chih-Kai
Source: / British Journal of Educational Technology, v43 n4 p606-623 Jul 2012
/ Pub Date: / 2012-07-00
Pub Type(s): / Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Peer Reviewed: / Yes
Descriptors:
Educational Objectives; Problem Based Learning; Problem Solving; Information Systems; Computers; Statistical Analysis; Educational Technology; Internet; Computer Networks; Teaching Methods; Web Based Instruction; Student Surveys; Questionnaires; Student Improvement; Instructional Effectiveness; Comparative Analysis; Learning Activities; Educational Environment; High School Students; Student Attitudes; Foreign Countries
Abstract:
Owing to the popularity of computers and computer networks, fostering the web-based problem-solving ability of students has become an important educational objective in recent years. This study attempted to compare the effects of using selected and open network resources on students' intentions with regard to their information system usage by means of technology acceptance model (TAM) questionnaires and learning effectiveness by analysis of covariance of tests in web-based problem-solving activities. An experiment was conducted by situating students from a senior high school computer course in web-based learning environments with open or selected resources to find the answers to several questions about "structured programming design." The experimental results showed that in either the open-resource network or the selected-resource network, low-achievement students made remarkable progress. Moreover, the high-achievement students who learned in the selected-resource network had significantly better performance than those who learned in the open-resource network. In addition, the learning task completion ratio and the difficulties the students encountered were recorded and analyzed, and the perceptions of the students regarding their engagement in the learning activity are compared and discussed based on the TAM.

Scaffolding Teachers Integrate Social Media into a Problem-Based Learning Approach? (EJ969432)
Author(s): / Buus, Lillian
Source: / Electronic Journal of e-Learning, v10 n1 p13-22 2012
/ Pub Date: / 2012-00-00
Pub Type(s): / Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Peer Reviewed: / Yes
Descriptors:
Foreign Countries; Social Sciences; Problem Based Learning; Systems Development; Cooperation; Workshops; Faculty Development; Scaffolding (Teaching Technique); Electronic Learning; Computer Assisted Instruction; Program Effectiveness; Program Descriptions; Program Implementation; Student Attitudes; Interviews; Data Analysis; College Students; College Faculty; Teacher Attitudes; Social Networks; Educational Technology; Instructional Design; Integrated Learning Systems; Open Source Technology; Web 2.0 Technologies
Abstract:
At Aalborg University (AAU) we are known to work with problem-based learning (PBL) in a particular way designated "The Aalborg PBL model." In PBL the focus is on participant control, knowledge sharing, collaboration among participants, which makes it interesting to consider the integration of social media in the learning that takes place. In this article I would like to depart from the use of this pedagogical model, which integrates social media. The article will look at a learning design model, which could be a spring-board scaffolding teachers at AAU in their pedagogical approach to learning design when combining the PBL approach with social media or web 2.0 activities or/and technologies. With regard to the discussions about PBL, three important characteristics of PBL can be extracted; the problem, the work process, and the solution, which can be used to distinguish between various theoretical and practical constructions of PBL--regardless initially of whether it is collaborative or cooperative. The three dimensions can then be thought of as stretched between two ends of a continuum between teacher and participant control. These fundamental questions of ownership and control seem also to be more generally applicable in relation to wider debates about social media and learning. The learning design model is based on the collaborative eLearning design (CoED) method. The CoED-workshop methodology aims to support the design of targeted networked learning. The method scaffolds the design work of practitioners and has been developed and tried out in a number of different settings. Drawing on knowledge and theoretical concepts within the fields of design, systems development and collaborative learning, emphasis is on bringing focus and structure to the early stages of the design process. The method aims to develop design specifications and/or early prototypes within a few hours of starting work. In order to achieve one of the objectives of my PhD, I aim to further developing and elaborate on this method, which hopefully will lead to a pedagogical design method scaffolding teachers in their learning designs, taking into account the PBL approach and integration of social media and web 2.0 technologies. This article will be based on theoretical and methodological considerations within PBL, social media and web 2.0 technologies, together with learning designs trying to illustrate a pedagogical design model scaffolding teachers in their learning design when integrating social media and web 2.0 technologies into the PBL approach at AAU. The method has been tried out at the Faculty of Social Science, AAU during Spring 2011 and the article will present some of the preliminary findings in this.

Comparing Technology-Related Teacher Professional Development Designs: A Multilevel Study of Teacher and Student Impacts (EJ965848)
Author(s): / Walker, Andrew; Recker, Mimi; Ye, Lei; Robertshaw, M. Brooke; Sellers, Linda; Leary, Heather
Source: / Educational Technology Research and Development, v60 n3 p421-444 Jun 2012
/ Pub Date: / 2012-06-00
Pub Type(s): / Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Peer Reviewed: / Yes
Descriptors:
Class Activities; Learning Activities; Problem Based Learning; Program Effectiveness; Interaction; Educational Technology; Science Teachers; Mathematics Teachers; Inservice Teacher Education; Program Design; Comparative Analysis; Outcome Measures; Outcomes of Education; Instructional Effectiveness; Junior High School Students; Secondary School Teachers; Quasiexperimental Design; Pretests Posttests; Instructional Design; Web Based Instruction; Electronic Learning; Technology Integration
Abstract:
This article presents a quasi-experimental study comparing the impact of two technology-related teacher professional development (TTPD) designs, aimed at helping junior high school science and mathematics teachers design online activities using the rapidly growing set of online learning resources available on the Internet. The first TTPD design ("tech-only") focused exclusively on enhancing technology knowledge and skills for finding, selecting, and designing classroom activities with online resources, while the second ("tech + pbl") coupled technology knowledge with learning to design problem-based learning (PBL) activities for students. Both designs showed large pre-post gains for teacher participants (N = 36) in terms of self-reported knowledge, skills, and technology integration. Significant interaction effects show that teachers in the "tech + pbl" group had larger gains for self-reported knowledge and externally rated use of PBL. Three generalized estimating equation (GEE) models were fit to study the impact on students' (N = 1,247) self reported gains in behavior, knowledge, and attitudes. In the resulting models, students of "tech + pbl" teachers showed significant increases in gain scores for all three outcomes. By contrast, students of "tech-only" teachers showed improved gains only in attitudes

Theory to Reality: A Few Issues in Implementing Problem-Based Learning (EJ935794)
Author(s): / Hung, Woei
Source: / Educational Technology Research and Development, v59 n4 p529-552 Aug 2011
/ Pub Date: / 2011-08-00
Pub Type(s): / Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Peer Reviewed: / Yes
Descriptors:
Evidence; Problem Based Learning; Learning Processes; Teaching Methods; Curriculum Implementation; Educational Research; Research Problems; Models; Outcomes of Education; Theory Practice Relationship; Program Effectiveness; Instructional Effectiveness; Comparative Analysis
Abstract:
The success of an intervention depends not only upon its theoretical soundness, but also on proper implementation that reflects the guidelines derived from its theoretical conception. Debates surrounding the effectiveness of problem-based learning (PBL) have focused on its theoretical conception and students' learning outcomes, but implementation is seemingly absent from the picture. This paper attempts to describe what research evidence is needed to fill in this missing information and provide a clearer picture of PBL. The author examines current PBL implementation practices and identifies potentially confounding variables that may play a role in inconsistent or conflicting research results in PBL. For example, various models of PBL have been developed and implemented to afford the specific instructional needs of the institution or learner population. These PBL models are in fact quite different in terms of the nature of problem solving and the degrees of self-directed learning, which theoretically, should result in different types of learning outcomes. Without distinguishing the models used, the results of comparative PBL research could have been confounded. Furthermore, human factors are another set of confounding variables that could influence the students' learning processes and consequently affect PBL implementations and research results. To remedy these problems and reach PBL's full potential, as well as obtain a more accurate picture of PBL as an instructional method and its effects on students' learning, some fundamental changes are needed