How K-12 Teachers Adapt Problem-Based Learning Over Time

Teachers adapt their instructional strategies over time based on a variety of contextual constraints. In response to these challenges, teachers often have to make changes to their PBL approaches. While the literature has documented generally positive results of initial PBL implementations, less is known about the degree to which teachers adapt their usage of PBL over time. Some adaptations include a refined approach to teaching strategies, while others include significant diversions from the original PBL model. A better understanding of the changes teachers enact provides important insight as to fidelity and thus the expected learning outcomes of PBL. To address this gap, this research conducted semi-structured interviews with experienced K-12 educators who employed PBL over multiple years. In terms of preparing for PBL, themes that emerged from the interviews included more emphasis on reimagining the problem scope and design thinking. During classroom time, teachers described shifting perspectives in terms of the following: problem-solving skills over content knowledge, student control and teacher facilitation, and embracing failure. Relating to technology, teachers described more adoption trends towards collaborative tools, while also describing opportunities and challenges with digital literacy. Finally, teachers described strategic approaches to assessment in light of the ill-structured problems posed by PBL. Implications for practice and theory are discussed.

Using Problem-based Tasks to Promote Higher-order Thinking Skills for TESOL MA Students in Vietnam

This paper denotes the findings from an action research project, which applied problem-based learning (PBL) in linguistics courses in an MA TESOL program in Vietnam. The project aimed to study the extent to which the use of problem-based tasks in semantic courses could promote students’ employment of higher-order thinking skills in their learning. It was found that the PBL approach was specifically appropriate in promoting higher-order thinking skills for students with passive learning habits in such Confucian heritage cultures as Vietnam. With well-designed problem-based tasks and adequate tutoring, students learned how to use higher-order thinking skills to facilitate their learning; how to stay more focused on the completion process of problem-based tasks; and how to be motivated to engage in learning activities. In addition, some students were encouraged to follow the same PBL approach in their own teaching practice. Problem-based tasks which took place at a fixed time during class seemed to cause students to lose interest. In addition, a lack of adequate job experience might also have limited the effectiveness and overall success of the problem-based tasks.

Discussion Facilitation Strategies and Design Skill Development: Examining the Relationship

Case-based instruction (CBI) provides a way to vicariously engage preservice teachers in their future teaching realities. However, little research has considered how different discussion facilitation strategies relate to the development of preservice teachers’ instructional design (ID) skills. We used an embedded mixed methods case study research design to compare differences in how preservice teachers approached the ID process when engaged in one of two strategies: discussions guided by pre-constructed prompts and a facilitator and discussions guided by pre-constructed prompts only. Findings revealed that preservice teachers who participated in discussions guided by a facilitator analyzed case problems more deeply, as they identified more sources of inspiration to guide their design choices; considered learner, environmental, and content characteristics more often; and reported spending more time understanding case problems. While most preservice teachers believed they could apply what they learned from participating in CBI to their future profession, preservice teachers receiving prompts only were more positive about the discussion aspect of CBI.

Transporting Problem Based Learning to the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries (GCC): Using Cultural Scripts to Analyze Cultural Complexities

The globalization of education has increased large-scale education reforms worldwide. Over the past 15 years, Gulf Cooperation Council Countries (GCC) have invested significant resources in reforming their education systems. This has led to extensive borrowing of pedagogical approaches to initiate and implement educational change. This article evokes several cultural learning scripts to identify the challenges that arise when pedagogical approaches are adopted and implemented. Specifically, problem-based learning (PBL) is examined against the backdrop of these cultural scripts to examine the cultural complexities of PBL in a GCC context. Discussion is provided that addresses several fundamental concerns that should be considered in order to reduce the cultural challenges and improve the implementation of PBL in GCC contexts. trends towards collaborative tools, while also describing opportunities and challenges with digital literacy. Finally, teachers described strategic approaches to assessment in light of the ill-structured problems posed by PBL. Implications for practice and theory are discussed.

Tracking the Evolution of the Knowledge Base on Problem-based Learning: A Bibliometric Review, 1972-2019

The current review employed bibliometric review methods to analyze 14,130 Scopus-indexed documents on problem-based learning published from 1972 through the end of 2019. The goals of the review were to describe the landscape and analyze the evolution of topical foci of interdisciplinary research on PBL over the past five decades. The review identified the accumulation of a substantial interdisciplinary corpus of research on PBL that is significantly larger than the literature on other approaches to active learning. The growth trajectory of the literature on PBL started out “low and flat” during the 1970s and 1980s but steadily gained momentum in subsequent decades, with 58% of the PBL literature published between 2010 and 2019. PBL has achieved an impressive scope of global research over the past 45 years, with a significant number of studies published from emerging regions of the world, especially during the past decade. While a long-term body of research has accumulated on the learning outcomes of PBL, the research front has begun to shift towards the study of self-directed learning, student satisfaction, self-efficacy, critical thinking, and cooperation. Research and practice challenges identified in the review focus on establishing the scope of use and efficacy of PBL across different cultural contexts and more systematically summarizing and synthesizing the use of PBL outside of the health professions.

Examining Project-Based Learning Successes and Challenges of Mathematics Preservice Teachers in a Teacher Residency Program: Learning by Doing

This phenomenological study describes how secondary mathematics preservice teachers (PSTs) in a teacher residency program designed and implemented project-based learning (PBL) units. The Six A’s, a framework used to evaluate the rigor and relevance of PBL units, helped capture the research question: What are the successes and challenges PSTs experience as they implement PBL units for the first time? This qualitative study illustrates how PSTs engaged students in relevant learning, wrestled with sustaining the rigor, and included the community to be partners in the projects. Findings indicate that high-quality implementation of PBL instruction requires involving the community, facilitating mathematical learning, and transforming the learning environment. PSTs recognized that a PBL approach requires a shift from traditional teaching practices and reconceptualizing both what it means for teachers to teach mathematics and for students to learn mathematics. This study contributes to the scarce body of knowledge on how teacher residency programs can utilize PBL as an instructional model to prepare PSTs for PBL environments.

Policy Failures with Learner-Centred Pedagogy: Case Studies from the Zimbabwean Experiment on Project-Based Learning

Globally, policy reform in education has recommended learner-centered pedagogy for more than a century, but its practical implementation remains an illusion in many classrooms. This study describes history teachers’ experiences while experimenting on project-based learning (PjBL) in Zimbabwe’s current curriculum reform initiative. Project-based learning has gained acceptance as an indispensable approach in developing learners’ 21st century skills of creativity, critical thinking, research, and problem-solving. Using a qualitative multiple-case study, four history teachers were observed and interviewed while implementing PjBL at four secondary schools in Zimbabwe. Results indicate policy failures with learner-centered pedagogy. Where some participants and their students had made significant progress, others had done very little at the time the policy reformers withdrew the projects. Feasibility studies could have circumvented some of the pitfalls experienced while enacting PjBL.

The Active Role of Students, Teachers, and Stakeholders in Managing Economic and Cultural Value, Urban and Built Heritage

Innovation in architecture education is increasingly oriented towards the analysis of real problems considered in their complexity and multi-dimensionality and the active involvement of the stakeholders. The aim of this paper is to highlight how the active role of stakeholders can improve the economic and cultural value of enhancement projects developed in architecture and planning schools, focusing on the potentialities of the problem-based learning (PBL) approach. A three-step educational procedure based on the PBL approach, applied at the atelier “Heritage Preservation and Enhancement” of the Politecnico di Torino, is presented. The results showed how a continuous interaction and dialogue with teachers and stakeholders can effectively support students in addressing real problems and in developing sustainable and feasible enhancement projects able to integrate heritage preservation and economic-financial issues. Innovation in architecture education is increasingly oriented towards the analysis of real problems considered in their complexity and multi-dimensionality and the active involvement of the stakeholders. The aim of this paper is to highlight how the active role of the stakeholders can improve the economic and cultural value of enhancement projects developed in Architecture and Planning Schools, focusing on the potentialities of the problem-based learning (PBL) approach. A three-step educational procedure based on the PBL approach, applied at the Atelier "Heritage Preservation and Enhancement" of the Politecnico di Torino, is presented. The results showed how a continuous interaction and dialogue with teachers and stakeholders can effectively support students in addressing real problems and in developing sustainable and feasible enhancement projects able to integrate heritage preservation and economic-financial issues.

Educating Students for a Complex Future: Why Integrating a Problem Analysis in Problem-Based Learning Has Something to Offer

The aim of this paper is to raise awareness of problem-based learning (PBL) and more specifically the problem analysis as a set of learning principles and practices offering the potential to bridge higher education to the complexities and uncertainties of science and society. Literature on PBL often argues that PBL supports education aimed at developing students’ competences in problem-solving. However, as we increasingly face complex and wicked problems, we cannot assume that problems can be solved based on existing methods and theories; the focus needs to shift from problem-solving to problem analysis and complexity navigation. This paper describes and discusses the need to focus on authenticity, exemplarity, and interdisciplinary as key educational concepts when developing competencies to analyze complex problems. In addressing these key concepts, the paper touches upon the didactical implications of problem analysis as the most important competence to achieve during higher education and as essential when moving beyond education and into a complex world where problems are always interrelated, as reflected in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.