Problem Based Learning within Traditional University Geography Courses: a Learning Experience

Laurillard (1993: 1) in the book ‘Rethinking University Teaching’ states that “University teachers must take the main responsibility for what and how their students learn”. At the undergraduate level, where the curriculum is fixed and where the students are expected to explore an already known field of knowledge, even the most democratic model of education is more didactic than negotiated. This makes the teachers’ responsibilities on the learning event even more important. The traditional instruction in lecture format, a pre-defined learning path, a pre-set mode of assessment: the usual features of a traditional University course structure are being increasingly questioned for providing relevant education. There are many instances of alternative modes of delivery and course management. One of the prominent strategies that have captured the educational arena for quite some time is the Problem Based Learning (PBL) strategy, originally started by McMaster University Medical School in the early 1970s. The PBL approach has been, in recent years, riding high on the forums of preferred teaching strategies for being able to bring forward real-life relevance to disciplines as well as for its ability to shift the learning responsibilities to where it belongs, to the learner.