Assessing the instructional effectiveness of problem-based management education in Thailand: A longitudinal evaluation

Abstract

Problem-based learning (PBL) has attracted increased interest in higher education due to claims that it provides a more active and productive learning environment.Yet, to date, most empirical research on the instructional effectiveness of PBL has been conducted in medical education. This article examines the instructional effectiveness of a problem-based curriculum at a business school in Thailand. The quasi-experimental study draws on seven years of student evaluation data to compare the instructional effectiveness of courses offered in a PBL track with other courses taught in the college. The results suggest that students perceived PBL as an effective approach to learning. PBL courses fostered a more active, engaging classroom environment that helped graduate management students understand how to apply theory to practice. The findings offer initial empirical support for the use of PBL in management education and counter the belief that Asian students are not responsive to learner centred approaches to education.

Overcoming the Walmart Syndrome: Adapting Problem-based Management Education in East Asia

“…While this study focused explicitly on PBL, an unanticipated finding concerned the positive response of Asian students to a broader array of active learning methods employed in the Core Courses at the GSB. Thus, this research offers evidence for the broader contention that East Asian students can respond positively and productively to active learning methods (e.g., Biggs, 1996;Hallinger & Lu, 2010;Watkins, 2000Watkins, , 2001. We suggest that this combination of results offers food for thought for those who continue to believe in the self-fulfilling prophecy that East Asian students desire to remain in a passive role, and need to be taught using rote learning methods.…”

“…Moreover, there is an abundant empirical literature that supports the assumption that change in teaching behaviors will tend to be slow and uncertain not only in Asia (e.g., Hallinger & Lu, 2010), but also in other parts of the world (Evans, 1996;Fullan, 2007). Thus, we did not assume that they would make the transition to this form of PBL any more easily than the students.…”

“…also employed instructional teams, the repertoire of teaching skills used by the instructors was a far less radical departure from 'the norm' to which they were accustomed (See Hallinger & Lu, 2010).…”

Effectiveness of web-based problem-based school administrator training program and its effect on participants' attitudes towards web-based learning

“…In particular, the fact that the programs organized for the professional development of school administrators are mainly based on theoretical knowledge, develops only the theoretical knowledge of the administrators and undermines their implementation aspects (Ağaoğlu et al, 2002;Chapman, 2005;Darling-Hammond, LaPointe, Meyerson, Orr, & Cohen, 2007;Hallinger & Lu, 2011;Şimşek, 2002;Versland, 2013;Yan & Catherine Ehrich, 2009). Thus, theoretically gained knowledge may fail to resolve (be able to resolve) many administrative problems occurring in the administration process (Bridges & Hallinger, 1995Hallinger, 1992Hallinger, , 1999.…”

“…The effectiveness of PBL which is suggested to be effective as an adult education approach (Lyotard, 1984: cited by Jarvis, 2004Knowles et al, 2005) and enable school administrators reach from practice to theoretical knowledge (Crawford, 2011), but there are limited number of studies (Bigelow, 2004;Brownell & Jameson, 2004;Hallinger & Lu, 2011;Smith, 2005) in the fields of administration in general and education (Scott, 2014). Hallinger and Lu (2011) carried out the first empirical study investigating the effectiveness of PBL, the instructional effectiveness of which is mostly tested in the field of health, in management. In the quasi-experimental study, it was stated that there is a need for more empirical studies that examine the effectiveness of PBL in the field of educational administration.…”