Introduction to Problem-Based Learning in Higher Education

Introduction

In most college classrooms, professors stand in front of the classroom and lecture their students. Little if any interaction occurs between the educator and their students, which causes pupils to be passive learners and become reliant on memorization and repetition to learn the information provided to them (Major & Palmer, 2001). Thus, the information has been disseminated to the students, but it can be argued that they have not truly learned it (Major & Palmer, 2001). Figure 1 shows this traditional learning method. It has also been well documented that students, whether on the elementary, middle, high school or even collegiate level, do not learn in the exact same manner or within the same time frame (Major & Palmer, 2001). For this reason, colleges and universities are searching for different methods for their students to become engaged in the information given to them by their professors so that it can then be applied in real-world scenarios by making cognitive, social, and experimental connections. Based on this revelation, the focus on simply teaching or lecturing students has changed to engaging students and having them participate in the various activities provided to them by their professor (Major & Palmer, 2001). This paradigm shift is how problem-based learning, or problem-centered learning, began.

Figure 1.

Overview of traditional learning

Problem-based learning is an educational approach in which college students work in a small group or on a team to solve a real-life scenario (Major & Palmer, 2001). The students collectively conduct research and collect data on the topic in order to devise a solution that is then presented to the entire class. The professor in a problem-based learning environment, as opposed to being a disseminator of information through lectures, meets with each group and serves as a facilitator or supporter of information who asks questions of the group to move the team along in their problem-solving process and to monitor the group’s process (Major & Palmer, 2001). When using this educational approach, the students learn collaboration, teamwork, and social and time management skills and also learn to think independently, transfer problem-solving skills to issues outside of the collegiate classroom, and communicate more effectively (Donnelly & Fitzmaurice, 2005; Major & Palmer, 2001). All those skills are skills that any employer desires in an employee and skills that can be used in any area of students’ lives (Donnelly & Fitzmaurice, 2005; Major & Palmer, 2001). Figure 2 provides an overview of problem-based learning.

Figure 2.

Overview of problem-based learning

The goal of every educator—from elementary- to collegiate-level—is to instill the love of learning in every pupil. Every student who passes through an educator’s classroom should receive this gift. However, this goal can be accomplished through many different methods; problem-based learning is one of them.