Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Education Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Education

Investigative Primary Science: A Problem-Based Learning Approach, Matthew B. Etherington Sep 2011

Investigative Primary Science: A Problem-Based Learning Approach, Matthew B. Etherington

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This study reports on the success of using a problem-based learning approach (PBL) as a pedagogical mode of learning open inquiry science within a traditional four-year undergraduate elementary teacher education program. In 2010, a problem-based learning approach to teaching primary science replaced the traditional content driven syllabus. During the 13 week semester, a cohort of 150 elementary pre-service teachers embarked on a Design and Make project to solve an individually chosen real world problem. Over one week, the pre-service teachers used a problem based mode of learning in conjunction with an open scientific inquiry to showcase individual working models (prototypes) …


Characteristics Of Problems For Problem-Based Learning: The Students’ Perspective, Nachamma Sockalingam, Henk G. Schmidt Mar 2011

Characteristics Of Problems For Problem-Based Learning: The Students’ Perspective, Nachamma Sockalingam, Henk G. Schmidt

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

This study aimed to identify salient problem characteristics perceived by students in problem-based curricula. To this end, reflective essays from biomedical students (N = 34) on characteristics of good problems were text analyzed. Students identified eleven characteristics, of which they found the extent to which the problem leads to desired learning outcomes as the most important characteristic. The extent to which the problem stimulates elaboration and the extent to which the problem promotes team effort were considered to be the least important problem characteristics. We clustered the eleven characteristics into two categories, “features” or “functions,” based on the perceived roles …