A Multilevel Analysis of Problem-Based Learning Design Characteristics

Abstract

The increasing use of experience-centered approaches like problem-based learning (PBL) by learning and development practitioners and management educators has raised interest in how to design, implement, and evaluate PBL in that field. Of particular interest is how to evaluate the relative impact of design characteristics that exist at the individual and team levels of analysis. This study proposes and tests a multilevel model of PBL design characteristics. Participant perceptions of PBL design characteristics are used to examine PBL reactions and perceived learning outcomes. Findings reinforce the importance of problem design characteristics and effective team facilitation while raising new questions about team-level characteristics such as goal orientation diversity.

Solving Real World Problems With Alternate Reality Gaming: Student Experiences in the Global Village Playground Capstone Course Design

“…The central feature of PBL environments is an authentic, ill-structured problem, which is posed to groups of learners who develop a socially negotiated problem solution (Savery & Duffy, 1995). While much research surrounds the efficacy of PBL as it compares to traditional curricula, a recent study illuminates the design characteristics of PBL to successfully engage students and contribute to learning (Scott, 2014). Because this article centers on the design of a capstone course using PBL, Scott's (2014) study is of particular interest.…”

Motivational Influences of Using Peer Evaluation in Problem-Based Learning in Medical Education

“…As research has shown that, compared to traditional instruction, PBL is effective in promoting long-term retention and skills, researchers have called for more attention to the study of the interaction between the learning environment and student characteristics in order to better understand how to optimize PBL environments for individual learners (Scott, 2014;Strobel & van Barneveld, 2009). The current study addresses this call by examining the role that individual motivational characteristics play in influencing engagement with and learning from the CPR model of the PBL learning environment.…”

“…Some evidence from the medical and other professional fields shows mixed results regarding students' attitudes toward peer assessment and evaluation (Patton, 2012;van Zundert et al, 2010). Similarly, while little research has directly investigated the influence of achievement goals on engagement in PBL (Scott, 2014), theorists hypothesize that students with mastery goals are more open to collaborative learning environments, and those with performance goals approach such environments with greater caution and reserve (Senko et al, 2011). In a recent multilevel analysis examining the design effects of the PBL environment, Scott (2014) tested whether AGO predicts several outcomes in a PBL environment, including self-directed learning (SDL) and perceptions of the learning environment.…”

“…This approach has yielded a great deal of useful information, but there is still a strong need to examine the complex relationships between individual, social, and design influences on learning and engagement with PBL (Scott, 2014;Strobel & van Barnesveld, 2009). The current study provides insight into the ways in which the dimensions of one motivational construct, achievement goal orientation, interacts with the PBL environment.…”

“…Research suggests that the way that students approach PBL environments might be affected by motivational characteristics, such as achievement goal orientation (Crommelinck & Anseel, 2013;Scott, 2014; teunissen et al, 2009). The purpose of this investigation was to test whether achievement goal orientation is predictive of motivational and learning processes occurring during CPR cases, including perceptions of grade fairness, judgments of learning, and scoring accuracy.…”