Product Based Learning
Reflections on
Problem-Based Learning
[pbl]
Issue 12 [ June 2012 ]
Contents
Editorial
Glen O’Grady
Research Article 1
Assessing Strategic Thinking Skills in
Problem-Based Learning:
A Case Study of Hospitality Education
03
04
David Kwok
PBL Review
Constructing Understanding
10
3rd International PBL Symposium
Highlights
“Seen and Heard”
Reflections
13
14
16
Rachel Ong
Research Article 2
Goal Orientation and Learning Strategies of
Engineering Students
17
C.S Yap and Kelvin Loo
Problem Showcase
Airspeed and Measurement and Student Perception
Alexander Schlag
22
Editorial
Glen O’Grady
Director, Centre for Educational Development
After more than 15 years in Singapore, I will be returning to Australia. Helping to start an institution that was committed to the philosophy and practice of problembased learning has been tremendously enriching in many ways: trying to understand the unique nature of different disciplinary knowledge when crafting problems; deconstructing facilitation practice in classrooms made up of diverse students; designing faculty development activities that try to foster and model critical and reflective practice; and the creation of learning spaces, both concrete and virtual, all of which assist in the achievement of learning. My immersion in the practice and empirical research of PBL has forced me to wrestle almost daily with philosophical questions that are not easily resolved. I share two such questions that have motivated constant reflection about PBL.
Question 1: What is the “self” in self-directed learning? Aristotle, Kant, Descartes, Habermas and Hegel all allude to the importance of the concept of self in any theory of human development and learning. In PBL there is a strong emphasis on the “self” directing learning. The appeal for self-directedness is very compelling, yet hard to get a handle on. Contemporary sociological texts suggest we are constantly constructing our
Problem-Based Learning
[pbl]
Issue 12 [ June 2012 ]
Contents
Editorial
Glen O’Grady
Research Article 1
Assessing Strategic Thinking Skills in
Problem-Based Learning:
A Case Study of Hospitality Education
03
04
David Kwok
PBL Review
Constructing Understanding
10
3rd International PBL Symposium
Highlights
“Seen and Heard”
Reflections
13
14
16
Rachel Ong
Research Article 2
Goal Orientation and Learning Strategies of
Engineering Students
17
C.S Yap and Kelvin Loo
Problem Showcase
Airspeed and Measurement and Student Perception
Alexander Schlag
22
Editorial
Glen O’Grady
Director, Centre for Educational Development
After more than 15 years in Singapore, I will be returning to Australia. Helping to start an institution that was committed to the philosophy and practice of problembased learning has been tremendously enriching in many ways: trying to understand the unique nature of different disciplinary knowledge when crafting problems; deconstructing facilitation practice in classrooms made up of diverse students; designing faculty development activities that try to foster and model critical and reflective practice; and the creation of learning spaces, both concrete and virtual, all of which assist in the achievement of learning. My immersion in the practice and empirical research of PBL has forced me to wrestle almost daily with philosophical questions that are not easily resolved. I share two such questions that have motivated constant reflection about PBL.
Question 1: What is the “self” in self-directed learning? Aristotle, Kant, Descartes, Habermas and Hegel all allude to the importance of the concept of self in any theory of human development and learning. In PBL there is a strong emphasis on the “self” directing learning. The appeal for self-directedness is very compelling, yet hard to get a handle on. Contemporary sociological texts suggest we are constantly constructing our