“The majority of the PBL [problem-based learning] literature and teaching presents PBL as a ‘one size fits all’ model”, which does not make provision for differences, remark Buus and Pedersen (2021: 23), who examined ‘why students experience problem-based learning environments differently’. They postulated “that differences in the students’ motivation, identification and understanding of learning shape their experiences of PBL”. They identified “four theoretical types of students: 1) The Job-Focused Practitioner, 2) The Social Collaborator, 3) The Subject-Enthusiast, and 4) The Directionless Explorer”. Buus and Pedersen (2021: 24) explain that “this typology not only considers the differences in students’ motivation, identification and understanding of learning in a PBL environment, but also how these differences are actively shaped in interactions with their learning environment”. ‘Table 2’, from Buus and Pedersen (2021: 27), provides an overview of the identified four types of students, and their respective characteristics. The article unpacks the research findings pertaining all four types, substantiated with qualitative quotes.
Buus and Pedersen (2021: 37) remark that the more diverse the student population the higher the demands on facilitators and coordinators to accomplish the outcomes. They suggest that the four types of students, “with their distinctly different ways of connecting with and experiencing a PBL environment” illustrate “that there is no universal way to enhance motivation and identification among students in PBL environments”. They propose that their typology can serve as tool and help understanding, examining, and decide which actions to take to accommodate differences. They caution, however, that student types are dynamic, not static categories, and may alter in various contexts and change over time.
Buus, K. & Pedersen, L.M. (2021). How differences in motivation and identification shape four types of student experiences with problem-based learning. Journal of Problem Based Learning in Higher Education, 9(2), 22-45. Electronically accessible from https://journals.aau.dk/index.php/pbl/article/view/6620/5978
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