Assessing the Effectiveness of Problem-Based Learning in Higher Education: Lessons from the Literature.

Abstract

Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is an innovative educational approach that is gaining prominence in higher education. A review of the literature of PBL outcomes summarizes, across multiple studies, the positive effects of problem-based learning. Since PBL brings with it unique challenges to traditional assessment, however, this study suggests alternative approaches. Alternative assessment may provide additional insight into the effectiveness of PBL and other alternative pedagogies.

Introduction

Traditional instruction, such as the typical lecture-based session that developed before textbooks were mass-produced, often involves delivering as much information as possible as quickly as possible. The lecture method was one of the most effective and efficient ways to disseminate information and has often been used for this end. Because many faculty members are poor lecturers, and because students are often poor participants in the lecture, this type of instruction has often allowed students to be passive in the classroom. Students, not knowing how to be active participants in the lecture, have relied on transcription, memorization, and repetition for learning.

In recent decades, however, we have learned a great deal from cognitive science research about the nature of learning. Students construct knowledge; they do not take it in as it is disseminated, but rather they build on knowledge they have gained previously (Cross, 1998). They benefit from working together, and they may learn best from teaching each other (Annis, 1983; McKeachie, et al., 1986). Research also suggests that students learn best in the context of a compelling problem (Ewell, 1997); they learn through experience (Cross, 1999). In short, students learn through making cognitive connections, social connections, and experiential connections (Cross, 1990). Because they make these connections differently, students do not learn in the same way. This relatively new information suggests that teaching is a complex activity, and it necessitates the emergence and development of approaches to instruction that are consistent with what we know about the way that learning happens (Ewell, 1997). This new understanding has given rise to the notion of a paradigm shift in higher education, one from a focus on teaching to a focus on learning (Barr and Tagg 1995). New "powerful pedagogies" emphasizing learning, such as project-based learning, inquiry-based learning, case-based learning, research-based learning, situation-based learning, action learning, and Problem-Based Learning (PBL) intimate that alternative pedagogies may be gaining in prominence and may ultimately become the dominant classroom paradigm.

PBL is an educational approach in which complex problems serve as the context and the stimulus for learning. In PBL classes, students work in teams to solve one or more complex and compelling "real world" problems. They develop skills in collecting, evaluating, and synthesizing resources as they first define and then propose a solution to a multi-faceted problem. In most PBL classes, students also summarize and present their solutions in a culminating experience. The instructor in a PBL class facilitates the learning process by monitoring the progress of the learners and asking questions to move students forward in the problem-solving process. Unlike traditional classrooms, the faculty member is not the sole resource for content or process information, but instead guides students as they search out appropriate resources.

The PBL approach had its start in the 1960s at McMaster Medical School as faculty developed PBL out of the perceived need to produce graduates who were prepared to deal with the information explosion, and who could think critically and solve complex problems. This institution developed its entire curriculum around problem-based learning. Soon after medical schools around the world began to adopt the McMaster model. In these cases, PBL is an approach to structuring the curriculum that involves confronting students with problems from practice which provide a stimulus for learning (Boud & Feletti, 1991). However, there are many possible forms that a curriculum and process for teaching and learning might take and still be compatible with this definition (Boud & Feletti, 1991). For example, educational and professional schools also began to feel many of the same needs as medical schools, so they began to adopt the approach as well, although in different forms, such as hybrid PBL and traditional curricula and course-by-course models; again the approach spread to institutions around the world.