Teaching for versus through problem solving: Impact on teaching and learning

This paper presents the results of a quasi-experimental study with third bachelor students in Medicine comparing the teaching for problem solving and teaching through problem solving condition. This study focuses both on the outcome and process effects. On the cognitive level this includes students’ conceptual learning gain. On the affective level this includes students’ experienced motivation both in the instruction phase and the problem-solving phase. This study complements previous research by taking a zoomed-in perspective including multimodal data streams (i.e. audiovisual, self-report, logdata and psycho-physiological data) to fully understand the effects on the teaching and learning mechanisms. Although we did not find statistically significant effects regarding the conceptual understanding, the results of the affective outcome and process variables are consistent with the growing body of evidence that generating solutions to novel problems prior to instruction can improve deeper learning and can make teaching more interactive and student-centered.

ISBN:978-1-7324672-0-0

Publication year:2018

Accessibility:Closed