In the past decade, faculty in community colleges, four-year colleges, and research universities have begun to move away from traditional didactic instruction to a more student-centered approach to learning. An increasing number of academic institutions throughout the world have recognized that Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is an instructional method that challenges students to develop the ability to think critically, analyze problems, find and use appropriate learning resources. In fact, PBL is a pathway to better learning, helping students to learn how to learn.
This conference will provide an opportunity for PBL practitioners to communicate with one another and share their ideas for organizing and managing undergraduate problem-based courses, assessing student learning, writing problems, conducting classroom research, integrating PBL with Internet resources, and a variety of related topics.
At the same time, faculty who are new to PBL or who are interested in learning about problem-based instruction will have the option to participate in a series of workshops that will help prepare them to use PBL in their own courses.