The process of problem‐based learning: What works and why.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors portrayed the process of problem-based learning (PBL) as a cognitive endeavour whereby the learner constructs mental models relevant to problems, and two hypotheses are proposed to explain how learning is driven in PBL; an activation-elaboration hypothesis and a situational interest hypothesis.
Abstract: Medical Education 2011: 45: 792–806
Objectives In this review, we portray the process of problem-based learning (PBL) as a cognitive endeavour whereby the learner constructs mental models relevant to problems. Two hypotheses are proposed to explain how learning is driven in PBL; an activation–elaboration hypothesis and a situational interest hypothesis.
Methods Research relevant to these hypotheses is discussed. In addition, research studying the effects of various support strategies used in PBL is reviewed. Finally, we summarise a number of recent studies in which a new ‘micro-analytical’ methodology was used to trace the process of PBL in the natural classroom setting.
Conclusions We conclude that there is considerable support for the idea that PBL works because it encourages the activation of prior knowledge in the small-group setting and provides opportunities for elaboration on that knowledge. These activities facilitate the comprehension of new information related to the problem and enhance its long-term memorability. In addition, there is evidence that problems arouse situational interest that drives learning. Flexible scaffolding provided by cognitively and socially congruent tutors also seems to be reasonably effective, as opposed to ‘hard’ scaffolding represented by, for instance, worksheets or questions added to problems. Small-group work protects against dropout and encourages students to study regularly. Initially, students do not study much beyond the learning issues generated; the development of personal agency in self-study needs time to develop. The extent of learning in PBL results from neither group collaboration only (the social constructivist point of view) nor individual knowledge acquisition only; both activities contribute equally to learning in PBL.
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TL;DR: When there are many people who don't need to expect something more than the benefits to take, this problem based learning an approach to medical education book will probably make you feel curious.
Abstract: When there are many people who don't need to expect something more than the benefits to take, we will suggest you to have willing to reach all benefits. Be sure and surely do to take this problem based learning an approach to medical education that gives the best reasons to read. When you really need to get the reason why, this problem based learning an approach to medical education book will probably make you feel curious.
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01 Mar 2015
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a synthesis of 1200 meta-analyses relating to influences on student learning, and the major implications relate to teachers who work with others to seek evidence of their impact on students, who inform students early what success looks like especially about surface and deep learning, who provide appropriate levels of challenge and feedback, and who have aligned their claims about success, assessment and teaching.
Abstract: The Visible Learning research is based on a synthesis of 1200 meta-analyses relating to influences on achievement. This article focuses specifically on the evidence and implications for higher education teachers. As nearly every intervention can show some evidence of success, we need to ask not “What works?” but “What works best” and seek comparisons between different ways of influencing student learning. The major implications relate to teachers who work with others to seek evidence of their impact on students, who inform students early what success looks like especially about surface and deep learning, who provide appropriate levels of challenge and feedback, and who have aligned their claims about success, assessment, and teaching.
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TL;DR: The aim of the present study is to assess the impact of a traditional method like cadaveric dissection in teaching/learning anatomy at present times when medical schools are inclining towards student‐centered, integrated, clinical application models.
Abstract: Anatomical education has been undergoing reforms in line with the demands of medical profession. The aim of the present study is to assess the impact of a traditional method like cadaveric dissection in teaching/learning anatomy at present times when medical schools are inclining towards student-centered, integrated, clinical application models. The article undertakes a review of literature and analyzes the observations made therein reflecting on the relevance of cadaveric dissection in anatomical education of 21st century. Despite the advent of modern technology and evolved teaching methods, dissection continues to remain a cornerstone of anatomy curriculum. Medical professionals of all levels believe that dissection enables learning anatomy with relevant clinical correlates. Moreover dissection helps to build discipline independent skills which are essential requirements of modern health care setup. It has been supplemented by other teaching/learning methods due to limited availability of cadavers in some countries. However, in the developing world due to good access to cadavers, dissection based teaching is central to anatomy education till date. Its utility is also reflected in the perception of students who are of the opinion that dissection provides them with a foundation critical to development of clinical skills. Researchers have even suggested that time has come to reinstate dissection as the core method of teaching gross anatomy to ensure safe medical practice. Nevertheless, as dissection alone cannot provide uniform learning experience hence needs to be complemented with other innovative learning methods in the future education model of anatomy. Anat Sci Educ 10: 286-299. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists.
251 citations
TL;DR: The authors investigated how situational interest is related to knowledge acquisition and found that only students who lacked the appropriate knowledge showed an increase in situational interest after the problem was presented, while those who showed awareness that they lacked knowledge to understand a problem (i.e., causes of erosion of an island) showed increased situational interest in that problem.
196 citations
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TL;DR: The main aim of this paper is to examine some of the major implications of this interactive, instructional relationship between the developing child and his elders for the study of skill acquisition and problem solving.
Abstract: THIS PAPER is concerned with the nature of the tutorial process; the means whereby an adult or \"expert\" helps somebody who is less adult or less expert. Though its aim is general, it is expressed in terms of a particular task: a tutor seeks to teach children aged 3, 4 and 5 yr to build a particular three-dimensional structure that requires a degree of skill that is initially beyond them. It is the usual type of tutoring situation in which one member \"knows the answer\" and the other does not, rather like a \"practical\" in which only the instructor \"knows how\". The changing interaction of tutor and children provide our data. A great deal of early problem solving by the developing child is of this order. Although from the earliest months of life he is a \"natural\" problem solver in his own right (e.g. Bruner, 1973) it is often the ease that his efforts are assisted and fostered by others who are more skilful than he is (Kaye, 1970). Whether he is learning the procedures that constitute the skills of attending, communicating, manipulating objects, locomoting, or, indeed, a more effective problem solving procedure itself, there are usually others in attendance who help him on his way. Tutorial interactions are, in short, a crucial feature of infancy and childhood. Our species, moreover, appears to be the only one in which any \"intentional\" tutoring goes on (Bruner, 1972; Hinde, 1971). For although it is true that many of the higher primate species learn by observation of their elders (Hamburg, 1968; van Lawick-Goodall, 1968), there is no evidence that those elders do anything to instruct their charges in the performance of the skill in question. What distinguishes man as a species is not only his capacity for learning, but for teaching as well. It is the main aim of this paper to examine some of the major implications of this interactive, instructional relationship between the developing child and his elders for the study of skill acquisition and problem solving. The acquisition of skill in the human child can be fruitfully conceived as a hierarchical program in which component skills are combined into \"higher skills\" by appropriate orchestration to meet new, more complex task requirements (Bruner, 1973). The process is analogous to problem solving in which mastery of \"lower order\" or constituent problems in a sine qua non for success with a larger jjroblcm, each level influencing the other—as with reading where the deciphering of words makes possible the deciphering of sentences, and sentences then aid in the deciphering of particular words (F. Smith, 1971). Given persistent intention in the young learner, given a \"lexicon\" of constituent skills, the crucial task is often one of com-
7,915 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the superiority of guided instruction is explained in the context of our knowledge of human cognitive architecture, expert-novice differences, and cognitive load, and it is shown that the advantage of guidance begins to recede only when learners have sufficiently high prior knowledge to provide "internal" guidance.
Abstract: Evidence for the superiority of guided instruction is explained in the context of our knowledge of human cognitive architecture, expert–novice differences, and cognitive load. Although unguided or minimally guided instructional approaches are very popular and intuitively appealing, the point is made that these approaches ignore both the structures that constitute human cognitive architecture and evidence from empirical studies over the past half-century that consistently indicate that minimally guided instruction is less effective and less efficient than instructional approaches that place a strong emphasis on guidance of the student learning process. The advantage of guidance begins to recede only when learners have sufficiently high prior knowledge to provide "internal" guidance. Recent developments in instructional research and instructional design models that support guidance during instruction are briefly described.
5,199 citations
TL;DR: This paper describes and evaluates explanations offered by these theories to account for the effect of extralist cuing, facilitation of recall of list items by nonlist items.
Abstract: Recent changes in prctheorclical orientation toward problems of human memory have brought with them a concern with retrieval processes, and a number of early versions of theories of retrieval have been constructed. This paper describes and evaluates explanations offered by these theories to account for the effect of extralist cuing, facilitation of recall of list items by nonlist items. Experiments designed to test the currently most popular theory of retrieval, the generation-recognition theory, yielded results incompatible not only with generation-recognition models, but most other theories as well: under certain conditions subjects consistently failed to recognize many recallable list words. Several tentative explanations of this phenomenon of recognition failure were subsumed under the encoding specificity principle according to which the memory trace of an event and hence the properties of effective retrieval cue are determined by the specific encoding operations performed by the system on the input stimuli.
4,197 citations
TL;DR: Problem-based learning (PBL) as mentioned in this paper is an instructional method in which students learn through facilitated problem solving, where the teacher acts to facilitate the learning process rather than to provide knowledge.
Abstract: Problem-based approaches to learning have a long history of advocating experience-based education. Psychological research and theory suggests that by having students learn through the experience of solving problems, they can learn both content and thinking strategies. Problem-based learning (PBL) is an instructional method in which students learn through facilitated problem solving. In PBL, student learning centers on a complex problem that does not have a single correct answer. Students work in collaborative groups to identify what they need to learn in order to solve a problem. They engage in self-directed learning (SDL) and then apply their new knowledge to the problem and reflect on what they learned and the effectiveness of the strategies employed. The teacher acts to facilitate the learning process rather than to provide knowledge. The goals of PBL include helping students develop 1) flexible knowledge, 2) effective problem-solving skills, 3) SDL skills, 4) effective collaboration skills, and 5) intrinsic motivation. This article discusses the nature of learning in PBL and examines the empirical evidence supporting it. There is considerable research on the first 3 goals of PBL but little on the last 2. Moreover, minimal research has been conducted outside medical and gifted education. Understanding how these goals are achieved with less skilled learners is an important part of a research agenda for PBL. The evidence suggests that PBL is an instructional approach that offers the potential to help students develop flexible understanding and lifelong learning skills.
3,823 citations