Introduction: Summarizing Findings and Looking Ahead to a New Generation of PBL Research

Abstract

The articles in this issue eff ectively summarize three decades of Problem Based Learning (PBL) research. The meta-analysis (Walker & Leary) and meta-synthesis (Strobel & van Barneveld) articles review outcomes of studies conducted from 1976 to 2007 that compared a PBL curriculum to a traditional curriculum. The third article off ers a critique of assessments used in these studies. This commentary highlights the conclusions of the articles and their unique contributions to our understanding of PBL and the breadth of its impact. Issues to be addressed in future research are discussed. OverviewWalker and Leary's meta-analysis is the most recent attempt to quantify the eff ect of PBL across a range disciplines, including an increasing number of studies outside of medical education. It also tries to account for specifi c features of PBL and the types of problems that were used. Strobel and van Barneveld provide a qualitative summary of previously conducted meta-analyses, resulting in an extensive list of outcomes that largely favor PBL over other teaching methods. All three articles emphasize the importance of assessing depth of learning, not just basic content knowledge on standardized tests. Belland, French, and Ertmer, in particular, highlight the diffi culty of measuring diff erent kinds of PBL outcomes and raise concerns about the quality of measures that have been used.What do the studies say about PBL eff ectiveness?The available evidence is promising. Compared to alternative teaching methods, PBL holds its own on standardized tests of concept knowledge and excels on other kinds of outcomes. Walker and Leary's meta-analysis combined 201 outcomes reported across 82 diff erent studies. They focused on the average eff ect size of diff erences in studies comparing students who received a PBL-based curriculum to those who did not. Although

Taking a Leap of Faith: Redefining Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Through Project-Based Learning

“…Notably, faculty in this study tended to engage discipline-specific community partners who became clients of the students. This finding begins to answer Ravitz's (2009) call for more research on how PBL is used across disciplines in higher education. As indicated by Dr. English, Dr. Education A, and Drs.…”

“…While Ward and Lee (2002) noted that the philosophies supporting PBL are well established, they complain that the "how-to's are in short supply" (p. 21). Ravitz (2009) suggested that scholars should investigate how PBL is used across disciplines, as well as the effectiveness of particular PBL practices and processes. He also recommended that studies not draw a false dichotomy between PBL and traditional instruction.…”

“…Instead, they embraced the PBL approach as a guiding framework and incorporated some PBL instructional techniques alongside traditional and discipline-specific methods, thus resisting a false dichotomy between PBL and traditional instruction (Ravitz, 2009). These eclectic choices influenced the success of implementation to some degree.…”

Guest Editors’ Introduction: Special Issue on Problem-based Learning in Health Professions Education/Toward Advancement of Problem-Based Learning Research and Practice in Health Professions Education: Motivating Learners, Facilitating Processes, and Supporting with Technology

“…In addition, one article was the result of cross-country collaboration (see Skinner, Braunack-Mayer, & Winning, 2015). We are pleased to see that all these articles demonstrate an effort to move away from if to how as we look forward to a new generation of PBL research (Ravitz, 2009), that is, from investigating if PBL works to exploring ways to design effective PBL curricula and experiences, motivate and help students to learn in the PBL environment, prepare faculty for successful PBL implementation, assess diverse learning processes and outcomes, and augment PBL with learning technologies. Furthermore, we are impressed by a variety of theoretical lenses (e.g., motivation, critical theory) and research methods (e.g., structural equation modeling, case study, interactional ethnography) represented in this special issue.…”

Examining How Middle School Science Teachers Implement a Multimedia-enriched Problem-based Learning Environment

“…Because students develop their own path to solve the ill-structured task, their activities become meaningful as they work to meet the project goals and ultimately the learning objectives (Pedersen & Liu, 2003). PBL shows promise in a number of disciplines such as science, engineering, teacher education, social science, and business (Ravitz, 2009). Despite the recognized benefits and effectiveness of PBL, using PBL in K-12 education is difficult and, therefore, relatively uncommon (Ertmer & Simons, 2006;Hmelo-Silver, 2004).…”