Problem-Based Learning

What is Problem-Based Learning?

Problem-based learning, described very broadly, is learning that is centred around `a problem, a query or a puzzle that the learner wishes to solve' (Boud 1985: 13). More specifically, the term `problem-based learning' tends to be used to describe an approach to curriculum which is problem centred rather than discipline centred.

Problem-based learning originated in medical schools at Case Western Reserve University in the United States in the 1950s and McMaster University in Canada in the 1960s. The problem-based approach was developed in order to improve the quality of medical education by shifting from a subject and lecture-based curriculum to an integrated curriculum structured by `real life' problems which crossed traditional discipline boundaries. Problem-based learning is now used world-wide in higher education in areas such as architecture, computing, engineering, social work and business.

While using problems as a stimulus for learning is not new and is used by many teachers to encourage student learning, for example using case studies in tutorials, a problem-based curriculum is significantly different from the traditional subject-based curriculum. Features of a problem-based curriculum are as follows:

• cumulative learning - a subject is not learned in depth at any one time, but is introduced repeatedly and in increasing levels of complexity during the course of study
• integrated learning - subjects are introduced as they relate to a problem rather than separately
• progression in learning - what and how students learn changes as students acquire skills and knowledge and as they mature
• consistency in learning - the aims of problem-based learning are reflected in all aspects of teaching and learning, including the learning environment in the classroom and assessment practices (Engel 1991: 29).

The principles of problem-based learning have elements in common with those of adult learning and life-long learning; for example, students use their existing knowledge in order to learn rather than being treated as a `blank slate'; the process of enquiry fosters self-directed learning; and students `learn how to learn' so that they are better able to apply problem-solving to new situations in the workplace and in the community.

Boud, D J (1985) Problem-based learning in perspective, in Boud, D J (ed) Problem-Based Learning in Education for the Professions. Sydney: Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia.

Engel, C E (1991) Not Just a Method But a Way of Learning, in Boud D and Feletti, G (eds) The Challenge of Problem Based Learning. London: Kogan Page.