Problem-based learning is often characterised as an approach encompassing interdisciplinary learning; however, little attention has been explicitly paid to what a claim of interdisciplinary problem-based learning means in practice. Even less attention has been given to address the consequences of interdisciplinary problem-based learning for students, teachers and institutions of higher education. This article examines the intentions and principles of interdisciplinary learning and problem-based learning, respectively. This examination reveals considerable overlaps of the two perspectives which, it is argued, make problem-based learning a potentially compelling pedagogical practice conducive for students' learning across disciplines. The second part of this article addresses three distinct barriers which need to be addressed in order to realise the potentials of interdisciplinary learning in problem-based settings. These barriers are related to the organisation of curriculum, developing student competencies to navigate with interdisciplinary problems and developing teacher competencies to meet student's needs. The conclusion is that interdisciplinary learning cannot be taken for granted in problem-based settings, and only if issues of interdisciplinary learning are specifically addressed can problem-based learning be considered a pedagogical approach adequately scaffolding interdisciplinary learning in higher education. Consequently, more research is needed to fully comprehend the potentials of problem-based learning as conducive for interdisciplinary learning. Particularly, research into the scaffolding of interdisciplinary learning in problem-based learning is required.

Medical education strives to foster effective education of medical students despite an ever-changing landscape in medicine. This article explores the utility of projects in problem-based learning-project-PBL -as a way to supplement traditional case-PBL. First, project-PBL may enhance student engagement and motivation by allowing them to direct their own learning. Second, project-PBL may help students develop metacognitive competencies by forcing them to collaborate and regulate learning in settings without a facilitator. Finally, project-PBL may foster skills and competencies related to medical research. As illustrated through a brief example from Aalborg University, Denmark, students learn differently from project-PBL and case-PBL, and so one implementation cannot simply replace the other. I conclude by suggesting future directions for research on project-PBL to explore its benefits in medical education.

Previous studies have found significant differences in the likelihood of becoming an elite athlete depending on community population sizes and densities, an effect known as the place of early development, or birthplace effect. However, the results have not been consistent between sports or European countries. As both professional and voluntary clubs are vital to the talent development systems in Europe, the proximity of an athlete's place of early development to the location of talent clubs may be an important predictor of the likelihood of becoming an elite athlete. Therefore, the primary purpose of this study was to investigate the place of early development effect and the effect of proximity to talent clubs. The samples included elite youth league athletes (579 football and 311 handball) and national youth athletes (85 football and 80 handball) and a comparison group of 147 221 football and 26 290 handball youth athletes. Odds ratios showed variations in the optimal community size and density across sports. Geospatial analyses of proximity to talent clubs highlighted a trend indicating that most national and elite youth league athletes in both sports had their place of early development in their sport near a talent club. The results suggest that proximity is an important predictor in the development of expertise across sports, but future studies need to clarify if proximity is important in other countries and sports.

It is often assumed that problem-based learning is an effective approach for fostering the development and/or improvement of students’ critical thinking. To shed light on the connection between problem-based learning and critical thinking, this scoping review maps out how the notion of critical thinking is conceptualized in relation to problem-based learning in the literature about problem-based learning in the context of higher education. Eight academic databases were searched and a total of 66 peer-reviewed articles were identified as eligible for review. Our findings indicate that there is a plurality of positions regarding the meaning of critical thinking and the concept’s relation to problem-based learning. What is more, more often than not, no explicit explanation for why this connection is thought to exist is presented.

Background Despite increased focus on improving the transition from being a medical student to working as a junior doctor, many newly graduated doctors (NGD) report the process of fitting the white coat as stressful, and burnout levels indicate that they might face bigger challenges than they can handle. During this period, the NGDs are in a process of learning how to be doctors, and this takes place in an organisation where the workflow and different priorities set the scene. However, little is known about how the hospital organisation influences this process. Thus, we aimed to explore how the NGDs experience their first months of work in order to understand 1) which struggles they are facing, and 2) which contextual factors within the hospital organisation that might be essential in this transition. Methods An ethnographic study was conducted at a university hospital in Denmark including 135 h of participant observations of the NGDs (n = 11). Six semi-structured interviews (four group interviews and two individual interviews) were conducted (n = 21). The analysis was divided into two steps: Firstly, we carried out a “close-to-data” analysis with focus on the struggles faced by the NGDs. Secondly, we reviewed the struggles by using the theoretical lens of Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) to help us explore, which contextual factors within the hospital organisation that seem to have an impact on the NGDs’ experiences. Results The NGDs’ struggles fall into four themes: Responsibility, local knowhow, time management and collaborators. By using the CHAT lens, we were able to identify significant contextual factors, including a physically remote placement, a missing overlap between new and experienced NGDs, a time limited introduction period, and the affiliation to several departments. These struggles and factors were highly intertwined and influenced by one another. Conclusion Contextual factors within the hospital organisation may aggravate the struggles experienced by the NGDs, and this study points to possible elements that could be addressed to make the transition less challenging and overwhelming.