Problem-Based Learning: What and How Do Students Learn?

Educational Psychology Review, Vol. 16, No. 3, September 2004 ( C 2004) Problem-Based Learning: What and How Do Students Learn? Cindy E. Hmelo-Silver1,2 Problem-based approaches to learning have a long history of advocating experience-based education.... More

Educational Psychology Review, Vol. 16, No. 3, September 2004 ( C 2004) Problem-Based Learning: What and How Do Students Learn? Cindy E. Hmelo-Silver1,2 Problem-based approaches to learning have a long history of advocating experience-based education. Psychological research and theory suggests that by having students learn through the experience of solving problems, they can learn both content and thinking strategies. Problem-based learning (PBL) is an instructional method in which students learn through facilitated problem solving. In PBL, student learning centers on a complex problem that does not have a single correct answer. Students work in collaborative groups to identify what they need to learn in order to solve a problem. They engage in self-directed learning (SDL) and then apply their new knowledge to the problem and reflect on what they learned and the effectiveness of the strategies employed. The teacher acts to facilitate the learning process rather than to provide knowledge Less