All Ireland Society for Higher Education
| Name: | Terry Barrett |
|---|---|
| Email: | terry.barrett@ucd.ie |
| Institution: | UCD |
What can we learn about the problem-based learning (PBL) process from how lecturers as problem-based learning students talked about it? - issues for creating and sustaining effective PBL learning environments.
Two teams of lecturers were completing a module on problem-based learning that was part of a Postgraduate Diploma in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, in a higher education institution in Ireland. The lecturers were problem-based learners for the module. Both the content and the process of the module were problem-based learning (PBL). The PBL tutorials of both teams were video and audio-recorded. Pseudonyms are used. The research questions for this paper are: "What can we learn about the problem-based learning (PBL) process from how lecturers as problem-based learners talked about the PBL process?" and "What are the implications of this understanding for creating and sustaining effective PBL learning environments?" This research is part of a wider doctoral study that is investigating how two teams talked about four of the key characteristics of PBL, namely the problem, the PBL tutorial, the PBL process and learning.
This paper uses conceptual analysis based on the identification of interpretive repertoires which is informed by critical discourse analysis.. Critical discourse analysis makes use of systemic linguistics, continental pragmatics and cross-disciplinary trends but goes beyond them in providing a synthesis of necessary theoretical concepts and analytical frameworks. From reviewing the interpretive repertoires across both teams an illuminative concept is derived from understanding how lecturers as problem-based learners talked about the PBL process. The contribution to practice of this research in terms of creating and sustaining effective problem-based learning environments is discussed.