A Review of the Effectiveness of Problem-based Learning

A Review of the Effectiveness of Problem-based Learning

This paper examines the effectiveness of problem-based learning. The presentation of the paper is divided into four parts. In the introduction, features and characteristics of problem-based learning are presented. In the second part, main findings of a meta-analytic (Dochy, Segers, Van den Bossche, & Gijbels, 2003) and two review papers (Baker, 2000; Hmelo-Silver, 2004) are highlighted. In part three, referring to empirical and other studies, advantages and challenges of problem-based learning are elicited. Finally, in the concluding session, some other issues such as group size and academic achievement are discussed.