Year 1 of the chemistry degree at the University of Leicester has been significantly changed by the integration of a problem based learning (PBL) component into the introductory inorganic/physical chemistry module, "Chemical Principles". Small groups of 5-6 students were given a series of problems with real world scenarios and were then given the responsibility of planning, researching and constructing solutions to the problem on a group wiki hosted on the Universty's Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). The introduction of PBL to the course was evaluated both quantitatively and qualitatively. Class test and exam results were analysed and compared with those achieved in previous years (i.e. before the introduction of PBL). It was found that student performance was at least as good as it had been before the introduction of PBL. Retention figures after PBL had risen sharply (not one PBL student dropped out of the course during the first term). Student and staff feedback was also collected for qualitative analysis of the impact of the change. Combining these findings showed that students appeared to show an improvement in, and recognition of the acquisition of, transferable skills and that group work on immediate arrival at university (representing an opportunity to use social skills within an academic exercise) led to high student retention within the PBL cohort.

We describe interim results of an ongoing longitudinal pedagogical study investigating the efficacy of the Honours Integrated Science Program (iSci). We describe the pedagogical methods we use to prompt research skill development in a model from instructor-dependence to independent original research. We also describe a tool we use to help students organise their group research during their first attempts. Finally, we discuss students’ perceptions of how well iSci develops their research skills. Our results show that students are attracted to the iSci program because of the opportunities for research-based learning and skills development. We also found that in-program students value research skill development as a tool for successful completion of their degree and for their future academic or career plans. We conclude that our study methods help identify areas where we can support our students by building their research confidence and, in particular, their time-management skills. Nous présentons une description des résultats intérimaires d’une étude pédagogique longitudinale qui vise à évaluer l’efficacité du programme spécialisé intégré de sciences (iSci). Nous faisons une description des méthodes pédagogiques que nous utilisons pour déclencher le développement des compétences en recherche au sein d’un modèle qui va de la recherche qui dépend de l’instructeur à la recherche indépendante originale. Nous décrivons également un outil que nous utilisons pour aider les étudiants à organiser leur recherche par groupe au cours de leurs premières tentatives. Pour finir, nous discutons les perceptions des étudiants sur la manière dont le programme iSci développe leurs compétences en recherche. Nos résultats indiquent que les étudiants sont attirés vers le programme iSci à cause des occasions d’apprentissage basé sur la recherche et de développement des compétences. Nous avons également remarqué que les étudiants inscrits au programme apprécient le développement de compétences en recherche en tant qu’outil qui leur servira à terminer leurs études et à obtenir leur diplôme, ou pour leurs projets de carrière, à l’avenir. En conclusion, nous déclarons que nos méthodes d’études aident à identifier les domaines où nous pouvons soutenir les étudiants en renforçant leur confiance en matière de recherche et, en particulier, leurs compétences en gestion du temps.

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We describe a course on the propagation of electromagnetic waves that is built around a problem-based learning (PBL) problem. The paper will describe how the problem was integrated into a pre-existing course that was perceived as highly successful (and hence not apparently in need of enhancement) by linking theory with experiment. The problem involves possible methods of searching remotely for leaks in water pipelines crossing a desert region by comparing the dielectric constant of wet and dry sand at various frequencies. The potentially wide-ranging learning objectives are restricted to the various properties of the reflection of plane waves at interfaces. Even so, any one PBL group can carry out only a small subset of the possible experiments in the allotted time. Thus, an interesting feature of the problem is that the reason that the experiments do not appear to give results with textbook accuracy can only be discovered by cooperation amongst the groups. This gives an added focus to the group presentations. CONTEXTThis activity took place in the context of the LeAP project (Problem-Based Learning in Astronomy and Physics) 1 funded by HEFCE (the Higher Education Funding Council for England) to explore various ways of implementing PBL in HE physics. The particular context was the attempt to introduce PBL as a part of an existing course on electromagnetic theory in order to integrate the theory with practical and computational work. While most implementations of PBL in physics have been made in a theoretical context, 2,3,4 some attempts have been made to incorporate practical work. 5 The course described here is at second level in UK HE, equivalent to level 3 in the Irish university system. Purists would argue that the implementation is not strictly PBL, because this course on electromagnetic theory as a whole still contains lectures and assessed exercise sheets as a prelude to the investigation of the problem. However, the PBL problem is set at the start of the course, covers most of the learning objectives of the course, and therefore acts to transform the lecture material into a resource for the PBL activity. The problem has been run with three cohorts with classes of around 60 students on each occasion. THE PROBLEM The problem statementThe problem statement given to the students is as follows:The Big Idea plc has been commissioned to study ways of searching for leaking water pipelines in the desert. The pipes are either on or near to the surface, so any leaks would result in wet sand in the vicinity. However, it has proved difficult to detect this reliably by photographic means, since dark shadows can also be caused by dunes, vegetation, clouds etc. as well as by wet sand. The research department has decided to investigate the possible use of drones carrying equipment to measure the dielectric constant of sand under the assumption that this will change with the moisture content. A number of ways have been considered to measure the dielectric constant, specifically the (i) Brewster angle and (ii) the reflectiv...

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