Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 190-205). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 129-136). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 190-205). Also available on the Internet.

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a learner-centred approach “that empowers learners to conduct research, integrate theory and practice, and apply knowledge and skills to develop a viable solution to a defined problem” (Savery, 2006, p. 12). Thus, the PBL classes differ pedagogically from traditional teacher-led classes. This learner-centred pedagogy, which was originally developed in medical education at a Canadian university in the late 1960s, was first incorporated into a tertiary-level curriculum in Japan in 1990. Since its initiation, 75 Japanese medical schools (94%) have adopted the PBL approach in their curriculum. Notwithstanding the great interest in using PBL in Japanese medical education, there is little qualitative research on the cultural dimensions of students’ participation in PBL tutorials. This study explored these issues by providing a close examination of classroom discourse and students’ introspection on their learning in PBL tutorials. In this qualitative case study, nine focal students and 36 of their group members, all of whom were first-year undergraduate students at a Japanese university, were selected as the main research participants. Data were collected over an entire academic year through classroom observations, video-recordings of PBL tutorials and interviews. Analysis of the classroom interactions involved the application of classroom discourse analysis (Eggins & Slade, 1997; Sinclair & Coulthard, 1975; Tsui, 1994). Moreover, interview data were analyzed by following a Grounded Theory approach (Strauss & Corbin, 1998) to provide further insights into their changing thoughts during their ongoing participation. Grounded in the notion of community of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998), this study examined the cultural dimensions of Japanese students’ participation in PBL tutorials. In particular, it focused on gaining a better understanding of what they actually do in the discussions, identifying factors mediating their participation and examining the relationships between their actual engagement and thoughts in the tutorials. In this study, there was considerable variation amongst the Japanese students in the ways they participated in and responded to PBL practices. Furthermore, this study demonstrated that their participation was mediated by their cultural assumptions, recognition of competence, negotiation of power relations and identity formation as a group member in the social context of PBL tutorials. Therefore, Japanese students cannot simply be categorized into quiet, passive and dependent learners. Rather, their ongoing participation in PBL tutorials is situated in the specific cultural context. The findings suggest that exploring the cultural dimensions of students’ participation and negotiation of identities, power relations and competence provides a broad view of their learning, including their ways of knowing, doing and being a member in a context of student-centered classroom. This study concluded that the inquiry into Japanese students’ participation contributed to our understanding of the processes of students’ learning and the social and cultural factors mediating their participation in a new classroom community. In particular, the mere adoption of a certain approach of learning will not bring about positive learning outcomes. It should be noted that students’ participation in a new classroom context involves complex, dynamic, social and cultural processes. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

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The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of problem-based learning (PBL) with learning-disabled (LD) students. Twenty-four students (12 dyads) classified as LD and attending a school for the learning-disabled participated in the study. Students engaged in either a computer-based environment involving BioWorld, a hospital simulation designed to teach biology students problem-solving skills, or a paper-and-pencil version based on the computer program. A hybrid model of learning was adopted whereby students were provided with direct instruction on the digestive system prior to participating in a problem-solving activity. Students worked in dyads and solved three problems involving the digestive system in either a computerized or a paper-and-pencil condition. The experimenter acted as a coach to assist students throughout the problem-solving process. A follow-up study was conducted, one month later, to measure the long-term learning gains. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to analyze three types of data: process data, outcome data, and follow-up data. Results from the process data showed that all students engaged in effective collaboration and became more systematic in their problem solving over time. Findings from the outcome and follow-up data showed that students in both treatment conditions, made both learning and motivational gains and that these benefits were still evident one month later. Overall, results demonstrated that the computer facilitated students' problem solving and scientific reasoning skills. Some differences were noted in students' collaboration and the amount of assistance required from the coach in both conditions. Thus, PBL is an effective learning approach with LD students in science, regardless of the type of learning environment. These results have implications for teaching science to LD students, as well as for future designs of educational software for this population.

This thesis reports the outcomes of an investigation into students’ experience of Problem-based learning (PBL) in virtual space. PBL is increasingly being used in many fields including engineering education. At the same time many engineering education providers are turning to online distance education. Unfortunately there is a dearth of research into what constitutes an effective learning experience for adult learners who undertake PBL instruction through online distance education. Research was therefore focussed on discovering the qualitatively different ways that students experience PBL in virtual space. Data was collected in an electronic environment from a course, which adopted the PBL strategy and was delivered entirely in virtual space. Students in this course were asked to respond to open-ended questions designed to elicit their learning experience in the course. Data was analysed using the phenomenographical approach. This interpretative research method concentrated on mapping the qualitative differences in students’ interpretations of their experience in the course. Five qualitatively different ways of experiencing were discovered: Conception 1: ‘A necessary evil for program progression’; Conception 2: ‘Developing skills to understand, evaluate, and solve technical Engineering and Surveying problems’; Conception 3: ‘Developing skills to work effectively in teams in virtual space’; Conception 4: ‘A unique approach to learning how to learn’; Conception 5: ‘Enhancing personal growth’. Each conception reveals variation in how students attend to learning by PBL in virtual space. Results indicate that the design of students’ online learning experience was responsible for making students aware of deeper ways of experiencing PBL in virtual space. Results also suggest that the quality and quantity of interaction with the team facilitator may have a significant impact on the student experience in virtual PBL courses. The outcomes imply pedagogical strategies can be devised for shifting students’ focus as they engage in the virtual PBL experience to effectively manage the student learning experience and thereby ensure that they gain maximum benefit. The results from this research hold important ramifications for graduates with respect to their ease of transition into professional work as well as their later professional competence in terms of problem solving, ability to transfer basic knowledge to real-life engineering scenarios, ability to adapt to changes and apply knowledge in unusual situations, ability to think critically and creatively, and a commitment to continuous life-long learning and self-improvement.

Introduction: Clinical reasoning plays a crucial role in the provision of quality medical care. The consequences of poor clinical reasoning affect not only the patient concerned but the cost and effectiveness of the entire health care system. The aims of this thesis are three-fold: to monitor the development of clinical reasoning in students enrolled in a graduate-entry, problem-based learning program in a large medical school; to compare the clinical reasoning of these students at graduation with that of graduates of a traditional undergraduate course; and to gain insight into the nature of the clinical reasoning process which may be applicable to the teaching and evaluation of medical curricula. Methods: Two methods have been used to assess clinical reasoning. The first method, the Clinical Reasoning Problems (CRPs), was developed to meet specific criteria established for this study. A CRP is a short clinical scenario that provides information about a patient’s presentation, history and physical examination. It is designed to assess the first three steps in the clinical reasoning process – identification and interpretation of pertinent data, and hypothesis generation. Subjects are required to nominate the two most likely diagnoses and to identify and interpret the clinical features that they considered in arriving at each diagnosis. Responses are marked using a scoring system based on, and derived from, those of a reference group of experienced general practitioners (GPs). The CRPs are presented as a set of ten problems, each taking about ten minutes to complete. The second method used was the Diagnostic Thinking Inventory (DTI). This is a questionnaire designed to probe clinical reasoning style by assessing two aspects of clinical reasoning: flexibility of thinking and the degree of structure of knowledge in memory. In this way, and because it is not tied to a specific clinical scenario, it provides an assessment of reasoning style that is independent of the content of a subject’s knowledge base. Subjects: Subjects were volunteer medical students from the last cohort of the undergraduate course and the first three cohorts of the new, graduate-entry MBBS Program at the University of Queensland. The reference group consisted of twenty-two GPs voluntarily recruited from all areas of Queensland. Results: Evaluation of the CRPs showed them to be a reliable and valid method for the assessment of clinical reasoning skill over a range of competence levels. The reliability of the DTI was similar to that found in other studies. Analysis of data collected using these methods showed that scores on both the CRPs and the DTI increased significantly in all student cohorts throughout the MBBS Program. Factors which influence performance on one or other of these indicators include stage of progression through the MBBS, gender, academic background and pre-admission interview score. Analysis of the causes of poor performance on the CRPs strongly suggests that medical students in the latter part of the MBBS have reached an intermediate stage in the development of reasoning expertise. This stage is characterised by the possession of a large but poorly structured body of knowledge. Subsequent examination of the CRP responses of the 21 reference GPs led to the classification of six of the GPs as diagnostic experts on the basis of their response patterns. Comparison of these GPs with the remaining 15 in the reference group has provided valuable information about the clinical reasoning characteristics of diagnostic experts and the relationship of the clinical reasoning process to diagnostic expertise. The principal finding was that integration of clinical data - the ability to connect relevant, accurately interpreted clinical information in such a way as to lead to the correct diagnosis - is the most critical step in the clinical reasoning process. This step is commonly disregarded or under-emphasised in the literature. Conclusion: This thesis indicates that both the style, and level of skill, of clinical reasoning develops significantly in MBBS students throughout their undergraduate medical education. In addition, it has demonstrated that the ability to integrate clinical information is a distinguishing characteristic of the clinical reasoning process of diagnostic experts. Although it is accepted that further development into true expertise can only occur as a result of extensive independent clinical experience, these findings are highly relevant to both the teaching and evaluation of medical curricula.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Wollongong, 2005. / Typescript. Narratives are based on experiences of prospective teachers enrolled at the University of Wollongong in the Knowledge Building Community (KBC) program, which is an alternative model of teacher training. Includes bibliographical references: leaf 264-283.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 90-95). Also available on the Internet.