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.     

Case study of a problem-based learning course of project management for senior engineering students

The analysis of the current state of the Ukrainian system of engineering education indicates the prevalence of traditional teaching–learning approaches in contrast to the modern needs of the labour market. Many universities across the world use the problem/project-based learning (PBL) which is an effective approach for the development of design and management skills of engineering students. The paper describes a detailed structure of a PBL course in project management and practical experience related to its implementation in an engineering degree programme at Bohdan Khmelnytsky National University of Cherkasy. Also, the results of surveys carried out in order to study the students’ generic competences’ development and perception of the PBL process are presented. The results show that students understand the diversity of PBL aspects and the influence of the PBL approach on their professional characteristics such as teamwork, ability of self-directed learning, communication and problem-solving skills.     

Working towards a scalable model of problem-based learning instruction in undergraduate engineering education

The intent of the study presented in this paper is to show that the model of problem-based learning (PBL) can be made scalable by designing curriculum around a set of open-ended problems (OEPs). The detailed statistical analysis of the data collected to measure the effects of traditional and PBL instructions for three courses in Electronics and Communication Engineering, namely Analog Electronics, Digital Electronics and Pulse, Digital & Switching Circuits is presented here. It measures the effects of pedagogy, gender and cognitive styles on the knowledge, skill and attitude of the students. The study was conducted two times with content designed around same set of OEPs but with two different trained facilitators for all the three courses. The repeatability of results for effects of the independent parameters on dependent parameters is studied and inferences are drawn.     

Influence of problem familiarity on learning in a problem-based course

The results of an experimental study investigating the influence of problem familiarity on learning in a problem-based psychology course are presented. Participants worked with either a familiar or an unfamiliar version of the same problem. The following measurements were taken (1) a measure of problem quality as perceived by students, (2) number of explanations of the problem put forward by the students while discussing it, (3) quality of learning issues derived from the discussion, (4) amount of time spent on self-study, and (5) the amount of knowledge acquired as indicated by a test. The results demonstrate that participants in the familiar problem condition perceived the problem to be of higher quality than the participants in the unfamiliar problem condition. No significant differences in learning were found. The findings do suggest, however, that problems may be improved by making them more relevant to the everyday experience of students.     

Cultivating engineering ethics and critical thinking: a systematic and cross-cultural education approach using problem-based learning

In May 2008, the worst earthquake in more than three decades struck southwest China, killing more than 80,000 people. The complexity of this earthquake makes it an ideal case study to clarify the intertwined issues of ethics in engineering and to help cultivate critical thinking skills. This paper first explores the need to encourage engineering ethics within a cross-cultural context. Next, it presents a systematic model for designing an engineering ethics curriculum based on moral development theory and ethic dilemma analysis. Quantitative and qualitative data from students’ oral and written work were collected and analysed to determine directions for improvement. The paper also presents results of an assessment of this interdisciplinary engineering ethics course. This investigation of a disaster is limited strictly to engineering ethics education; it is not intended to assign blame, but rather to spark debate about ethical issues.     

Students' experience of problem-based learning in virtual space

This paper reports outcomes of a study focused on discovering qualitatively different ways students experience problem-based learning in virtual space. A well-accepted and documented qualitative research method was adopted for this study. Five qualitatively different conceptions are described, each revealing characteristics of increasingly complex student experiences. Establishing characteristics of these more complex experiences assists teachers in facilitating students’ engagement and encouraging deeper learning.     

The relationship between student-generated learning issues and self-study in problem-based learning

A major assumption of problem-based learning (PBL) is that learning issues, generated by students while discussing a problem, are used as guides for self-directed learning activities. This assumption, though basic to PBL, has never been tested. At the University of Limburg, the Netherlands, two procedures have been developed that reflect the extent to which students are able to identify important learning issues given a particular problem, and whether subsequent, independent, learning corresponds with these learning issues. The focus of the present article will be on the relationship between the two. We have explored to what extent student-generated learning issues are a major factor influencing the nature of students' self-study, or whether other factors may be involved in decisions on what to study and how much time to spend on topics selected. First, the production of learning issues was studied and represented as the percentage of overlap between learning issues raised by students and pre-set faculty objectives for each problem. The second procedure consisted of the administration of a Topic Checklist (TOC) which purports to measure students' actual self-directed learning activities. The TOC consists of a list of topics specifying the intended course content. Students were asked to indicate on a five-point Likert scale how much time they had spent studying each topic and to what degree they had mastered that topic. Third, learning issues and TOC topics were compared directly in a qualitative sense. Comparisons between the procedures revealed that a low proportion of variance of TOC scores could be predicted from the percentage of faculty objectives identified for each problem and the direct match between learning issues and TOC scores. It is concluded that scrutinizing student-generated learning issues and topics covered during self-study may provide information about what content is covered by students in tutorial groups. The discrepancy between the results of the measurements suggests, however, that learning issues produced during group discussion are not the sole source on which students base self-study decisions. Several other factors may be involved, such as tutor guidance, content already covered in previous units, issues raised during sessions with resource persons, and the nature of the learning resources available. Therefore, the relationship between learning issues and content covered during self-study is not as straightforward as is suggested.     

The process,dialogues, and attitudes of vocational engineering high school students in a web problem-based learning (WPBL) system

This study aims to explore how high school students collaboratively solve problems in a web problem-based learning (WPBL) system in an 8-week digital logic course using discourse analysis. Employing in-depth interviews, this study also investigated the students' attitudes toward the WPBL system. The number of teaching assistants' responses had a negative relationship with the number of peer responses. Regarding dialogue quality, extended questions and brainstorming stimulated each other. Elaboration facilitated problem solving, whereas organizing knowledge from books or websites decreased reflection. Students affirmed the usefulness and effectiveness of the web system because it created an interactive, flexible, comfortable and collaborative learning environment.     

A case study: Problem-based learning for civil engineering students in transportation courses

This paper describes two case studies where problem-based learning (PBL) has been introduced to undergraduate civil engineering students in University College Dublin. PBL has recently been put in place in the penultimate and final year transport engineering classes in the civil engineering degree in University College Dublin. In this case study, the paper describes how PBL was introduced, the impacts of its introduction and the feedback received by students regarding PBL. PBL was introduced in these years to help students to become deep and active learners and to help them in the transition from passive note taker to researcher and lifelong learner.     

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.     

Mining learning social networks for cooperative learning with appropriate learning partners in a problem-based learning environment

Many studies have identified web-based cooperative learning as an increasingly popular educational paradigm with potential to increase learner satisfaction and interactions. However, peer-to-peer interaction often suffers barriers owing to a failure to explore useful social interaction information in web-based cooperative learning environments. This easily leads to learners being unable to seek appropriate learning partners for facilitating effective cooperative learning. This problem frequently causes poor learning effectiveness in web-based cooperative learning environments. Generally, instructor assigned or learner selected learning peers cannot ensure to compose suitable learning partners for individual learners in cooperative learning environments. A suitable learning partner can help the learner, who is learning in the personal way and encounters the difficulty, to solve problems. Inappropriate learning partners cannot only easily lead to poor learning interaction and achievement, but can also lead to the meaning of cooperative learning being lost. Although many web-based learning systems have already been developed to assist cooperative learning, supporting peer-to-peer interaction in computer-supported cooperative learning (CSCL) is still immature. As a result, this study presents a novel scheme for recommending appropriate learning partners for individual learners utilizing mining of learning interactive social networks in a cooperative problem-based learning (PBL) environment. Results of this study show that the proposed scheme helps encourage learners to interact with learning peers more actively and positively, and facilitates learning performance in a cooperative PBL environment.     

Vertical stream curricula integration of problem-based learning using an autonomous vacuum robot in a mechatronics course

Difficulties in teaching a multi-disciplinary subject such as the mechatronics system design module in Departments of Mechatronics Engineering at Temasek Polytechnic arise from the gap in experience and skill among staff and students who have different backgrounds in mechanical, computer and electrical engineering within the Mechatronics Department. The departments piloted a new vertical stream curricula model (VSCAM) to enhance student learning in mechatronics system design through integration of educational activities from the first to the second year of the course. In this case study, a problem-based learning (PBL) method on an autonomous vacuum robot in the mechatronics systems design module was proposed to allow the students to have hands-on experience in the mechatronics system design. The proposed works included in PBL consist of seminar sessions, weekly works and project presentation to provide holistic assessment on teamwork and individual contributions. At the end of VSCAM, an integrative evaluation was conducted using confidence logs, attitude surveys and questionnaires. It was found that the activities were quite appreciated by the participating staff and students. Hence, PBL has served as an effective pedagogical framework for teaching multidisciplinary subjects in mechatronics engineering education if adequate guidance and support are given to staff and students.     

How to promote knowledge transfer through a problem-based learning Internet platform for vocational high school students

This study aimed to explore how vocational high school students transfer knowledge through a problem-based learning (PBL) Internet platform. A PBL Internet platform was provided to 33 sophomore mechanical engineering students for a 6-week teaching experiment. A survey questionnaire, observation and interview were research instruments. The findings include: 1) factual, conceptual and process knowledge are the major types of knowledge and the sources of knowledge transfer (KT) include students, instructors and industries, but may be acquired differently depending on the level of problem-solving needs; 2) students’ KT includes highly experienced tacit knowledge and more concrete explicit knowledge; 3) students’ attitudes toward the six domains of using the PBL Internet platform all show positive significance, including the platform, the platform instructors, the platform mobility, online interaction, the PBL and the platform interface mechanism of students’ perceptions; 4) the capability and the willingness for KT in instructors, industries and students all have some impact on the effectiveness of KT.     

Scaffolding in problem-based learning for low-achieving learners

This research investigates scaffolding approaches for supporting low-achieving learners in a problem-based learning environment. The study was conducted in a vocational school with 3 different approaches to scaffolding using 3 groups in addition to a control group. The area of focus was a learning module using computer spreadsheets. The results showed that there was a significant difference in outcomes among the 4 groups. The group that used a semicollaborative approach combined with worksheet performed significantly higher on posttests than the other group. This study illustrates the value of scaffolding for low achievers in problem-based learning environments and identifies the specific type of scaffolding that is most effective.     

Motivation to commit oneself as a determinant of achievement in problem-based learning

Problem-based learning is a constructivist approach toprofessional education stressing the use of real lifeproblems in education. Several previous attempts tounderstand the intricacies of learning in theproblem-based context have led to a causal model,elements of which were tested in the present study.The focus of the investigation was on the students' motivation to committhemselves to studying in a problem-based healthsciences curriculum, expressed in term of levels ofattendance at tutorial meetings. Data were collectedregarding functioning of the tutorial group, tutorfunctioning, level of prior knowledge, quality of theinstructional problems, time spent on individualstudy, academic achievement and increased interest.These data were analyzed using a structural equationsmodeling approach. As hypothesized, commitment appears to bea potent determinant of achievement. In fact, itrepresents one of the strongest determinants oflearning in the model tested.     

Online problem-based and enquiry-based learning in the training of educational psychologists

Over the past 40 years, problem-based learning (PBL) and enquiry-based learning (EBL) approaches have been used in a variety of professional training courses. More recently online versions of these pedagogies have been developed. This paper explains how online PBL and EBL activities have been incorporated into the professional training of educational psychologists, at the University of Birmingham, UK. Three examples of such activities are presented, together with data gathered during implementation which has helped to evaluate this work. There is a discussion of some of the emerging themes that have been generated and implications for the future use of online PBL/EBL in the training and continuing professional development of educational psychologists.     

Portraits of PBL: students' experiences of the characteristics of problem-based learning in physiotherapy,computer engineering and psychology

The present study is part of acomprehensive research project with the generalaims of comparing how problem-based learning isrealised in three different professionaleducational programmes. The specific aims ofthis study are to describe and analyse howstudents in the three different programmesconceive of the meaning of problem-basedlearning and how they experience their studieswithin a problem-based learning programme. ThePBL programmes are a Bachelor's programme inPhysiotherapy, a Master's programme inPsychology, and a Master's programme inComputer Engineering. Data were analysedqualitatively. The results reveal differencesin how the students in the three programmesconceive of their autonomy as learners,co-operation with their counterparts and theauthenticity of the learning task. The findingspossibly also reflect the taken-for-grantedperspectives of knowledge, embedded in thecultures of the professional practices and thescientific disciplines to which the programmespertain.     

Computer-assisted learning in UK engineering degree programmes: lessons learned from an extensive case study programme

This paper gives a synopsis of an extensive programme of case studies on real uses of computer-assisted learning (CAL) materials within UK engineering degree programmes. The programme was conducted between 2000 and 2003 and followed a questionnaire-based survey looking at CAL use in the UK and in Australia. The synopsis reveals a number of key messages for academic tutors and authors including students' enthusiasm for notes, self-tests and features to aid visualisation. Publishers should also consider pricing and licensing arrangements suited to the individual user. Cet article donne une synthèse exhaustive des études de cas concernant l'utilisation concrète des logiciels d'enseignement assisté par ordinateur (EAO) dans les études d'ingénieur au Royaume Uni. Ces études, conduites entre 2000 et 2003, sont basées sur l'analyse de questionnaires concernant l'utilisation de l'EAO au Royaume Uni et en Australie. La synthèse révèle un certain nombre de points clés destinés au corps enseignant et aux auteurs, dont notamment l'intérêt des étudiants pour les cours papiers, les exercices d'autoévaluation et les éléments d'aide à la visualisation. Les aspects liés aux coû ts et aux droits d'auteurs devraient aussi ûtre pris en compte par les éditeurs, afin de faciliter l'accès aux logiciels par les utilisateurs individuels.