Problem-based curricula enhance deep approaches and discourage surface approaches compared with subject-based curricula¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · review r2–r3 · q2
Currency · newest study 2017 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Investigations in the 1980s using longitudinal and cross-sectional designs found problem-based curricula enhanced deep approach use and discouraged surface approach use relative to subject-based curricula, and more recent investigations generally confirmed this. → John T. E. Richardson 2017 q2 i? Students' interpretations of problem-based learning differ: those who de-contextualize problems and work individually tend toward a surface approach, while those who solve problems in groups in clinical context tend toward a deep approach. → John T. E. Richardson 2017 (2)

Evidence¶

John T. E. Richardson 2017¶

John T. E. Richardson. (2017). Student Learning in Higher Education: a Commentary. Educational Psychology Review, 29, 353–362. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-017-9410-x

q2 · i? · review · r3

The commentary attributes to 1980s investigations (Coles 1985; Newble and Clarke 1986) the finding that problem-based curricula enhanced deep approach use and discouraged surface approach use versus subject-based curricula, and says more recent investigations (e.g., Hall et al. 2004; Kieser et al. 2005) generally confirmed this. Attributed second-hand; no effect sizes printed.

"Investigations carried out during the 1980s using both longitudinal and cross-sectional research designs found that problem-based curricula enhanced the use of a deep approach and discouraged the use of a surface approach in comparison with subject-based curricula"

John T. E. Richardson 2017 (2)¶

John T. E. Richardson. (2017). Student Learning in Higher Education: a Commentary. Educational Psychology Review, 29, 353–362. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-017-9410-x

q2 · i? · review · r2

The commentary reports Prosser and Sze's (2014) finding that medical students who saw problem-based learning as individual problem-solving de-contextualized problems and tended to adopt a surface approach, whereas students who solved problems in groups in clinical context were more likely to adopt a deep approach. Attributed second-hand.

"Prosser and Sze ( 2014) found that some medical students thought that problem-based learning was concerned with learning how to solve problems individually; these students de-contextualized the problems that they were given and did not appreciate their clinical relevance"

Discussion¶

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