Are South African Geography education students ready for problem-based learning?

Geography Student Teachers’Perceptions of Online Problem-based Learning Activities: A Case Study

“…Surprisingly, the respondents also stated that the formulation of learning objectives was not difficult (mean = 4.21). This differs from findings of Golightly and Muniz (2013), who reported in their study that students experienced difficulties in the formulation of learning objectives in order to solve problems. It is important to highlight that the researchers of this study, who acted as online tutors, gave the necessary guidance and support to students regarding the formulation of objectives in the initial training of the online PBL process, as well as throughout this part of the activity.…”

“…During the past few years, various geography educators from different countries have implemented PBL in geography and geography education (e.g. Caesar et al 2016;Golightly 2018;Golightly & Guglielmino 2015;Golightly & Muniz 2013;Kwan 2008). It is also necessary to point out that the 2016 International Charter on Geography Education strongly recommended that geography educators should be supported by research that reflects on PBL in geography education (Kolossov, Van der Schee & Lidstone 2016).…”

“…(1) Using an adapted online PBL questionnaire of Golightly and Muniz (2013) after the implementation of the online PBL activities (see Table 2). The online PBL questionnaire is a 36-item, five-point Likert scale instrument that measures students' perceptions of the online PBL experiences.…”

Problem-Based Learning to Foster Deep Learning in Preservice Geography Teacher Education

“…Literature shows that various South African researchers have used different teaching and learning strategies to foster deep learning in the South African context. Some of these studies included the use of games and simulations to foster critical thinking and solving problems (Rowntree and Fox 2008;Davidson et al 2009), the implementation of issue-based enquiry at South African schools (Wilmot and Norton 2004), the implementation of problem-based learning in science education at school level (Van LoggerenbergHattingh 2003) and geography in teacher education (Golightly and Muniz 2013). Although Schultze (2003) found that most teachers in South Africa seemed to be willing to move towards more meaningful deep learning, it is clear that traditional teaching that promotes surface learning still prevails (Rambuda and Fraser 2004;De Waal and Grösser 2009;Alexander et al 2010).…”

Self-directed learning research: An imperative for transforming the educational landscape

“…Pawson et al (2006) confirm this and point out that '… there is little information available regarding the scope of use of PBL and PBL hybrids in Geography courses and curricula'. Only a few studies (Van LoggerenbergHattingh 2000;Golightly & Muniz 2013;Golightly & Raath 2015) could be found on the implementation and integration of PBL in existing teacher-training programmes within a South African context. As a result of this shortage of literature in geography and geography education regarding the implementation of PBL and tutors' facilitation of the PBL process, it is necessary to refer to studies and findings in other disciplines such as medicine, pharmacy and engineering.…”