How to orientate students to PBL

The literature on problem-based learning (PBL) mostly praises its various benefits, such as the development of transferrable, 21^st-century competencies, increased student motivation, and reduced drop-outs (e.g., Abbey et al., 2017; Ding et al., 2014a; Tan et al., 2014). Thus, one would assume that students, the main beneficiaries of the PBL method, would thrive on converting to this practice from the passive lectures.

The reality, however, is often the contrary. PBL requires both a mindset and behavioral change from the students and this may, and often will, cause anxiety, stress, and even resistance among students. This is especially the case with students practicing the method for the first time. Usually, the more familiar the students get with the method, the less it will cause negative feelings (Abbey et al., 2017; McCowan, 2018; Weimer, 2002). The students tend to prefer and like PBL when they get accustomed to their new, more active, and responsible role.

In this article, we provide practical tips, based on our own experience, on how to orientate students to PBL, reducing the time when students feel frustrated and resistant toward the method and are even afraid of it.

Change in students’ role and responsibility: How does it feel

In PBL, students become active learners, with learning driven by experiences and doing. Students need to themselves – yet, of course, guided by the teacher – acquire information, as well as assess and apply it while also finding ways to work and cooperate with other team members. This responsibility and active role may feel overwhelming to the students. Studies report students perceive PBL as more challenging, time-consuming, and more difficult than traditional, teacher-led pedagogical methods (Abbey et al., 2017; McCowan, 2018; Weimer, 2002). The teacher’s role (which is a very important one!) is to support students in the conversion to active, responsible, and self-imposed actors who can reflect their own learning needs and styles. To best understand and find ways to do that, it is important to understand how students feel.

We have asked students to anonymously express their feelings at the beginning of a PBL course (Figure 1). The most common words to describe the feelings were: “nervous,” “chaotic,” and “distressed,” but also “excited,” “interested,” and “enthusiastic”. The teacher should help students to let go of the negative feelings or to find strength and excitement in them, as well as emphasise and arouse positive feelings.

How to support students in PBL

In addition to the probably most commonly referred teacher’s tasks in PBL, which is to facilitate student work in the PBL cycle (see, e.g., Knuutti & Määttänen, 2024) i.e., facilitate information acquiring and applying, the teacher should also support and facilitate students’ orientation towards the PBL method. In practice, this means facilitating and guiding students to identify their learning needs and the best methods of learning for them, and gain confidence, i.e., to start to direct their own learning and doing.

To help teachers in this demanding task, we compiled a checklist for teachers to guide them on supporting PBL students.

(1) Know what you are doing. To be able to instruct and facilitate PBL, you need to have a basic understanding of the method, its pedagogical background, the PBL cycle, and its basic characteristics (Abbey et al., 2017). In addition to the general theory behind PBL, you need to pre-plan your course with care. Only then will you be able to clearly state the PBL goals for the students and explain throughout the course what is happening and why and which are the starting points for orientating students to PBL.

(2) Change your mindset first. Don’t expect students to change their mindset and habits if you, as a teacher, are not doing the same. It is not only the students who may feel nervous or resistant toward PBL, the exact same also applies to teachers. Facilitating PBL requires a different set of attitudes and skills from teachers than lecturing. Important characteristics of PBL instructors include patience, persistence, tenacity, and emotional intelligence (Abbey et al., 2017; Weimer, 2002).

(3) Tolerate and adapt to chaos. The PBL process is, by nature, chaotic and messy. While in theory the PBL cycle is often presented as a logical, iterative cycle, where one phase follows another, the reality is often far from that (Figure 2). The students often bounce from one phase to another in a “chaotic” order. As a teacher, you need to be able to adapt to the chaotic learning process, while continuously facilitating the students’ work.

(4) Do not tell what to do. Ordering students, directing them what to or providing direct answers will not take you or your students far. Commands often arouse and increase resistance and reduce motivation. In PBL, student autonomy and activity are vital, thus the teacher’s role is to guide students through the learning process, not to tell them how to and what to learn and do (Major & Palmer, 2001).

(5) Manage the learning environment. Create and maintain a supportive learning environment that fosters openness, interactions, and information sharing among and between teachers and students (Knuutti & Määttänen, 2022). Relating to learning methods, emphasize doing rather than just reading and memorizing.

(6) Persuade. Convince students of thebenefits of PBL. Emphasize to them that they are learning for their future, to manage and succeed in the world of work, not to succeed in exams. You can lure out the change in students if you get them to try the method seriously. It does not matter how you get them to try and put themselves in: you can encourage them with e.g.  persuasion, social pressure, leading by example or a combination of various methods.

(7) Change the whole system. Despite being highly important and influential, teachers alone cannot make the change. The whole education system needs to change to make PBL an attractive option for the students. Teachers need to be provided incentives to practice PBL, and so does students. Content knowledge and grade-oriented educational institutions may not be able to inspire students on PBL (Weimer, 2002).

Be the catalyst of change

Teachers have a key role in society in educating the future problem-solvers and change-makers. Appraise this demanding and yet highly rewarding task by being a catalyst of change. With adequate support, you can be able to change students’ mindsets and make them acquire and appreciate competencies that may influence their whole careers, and societal development at large. Recognise also your role within your institution and educational governance and call out for practices and policies that will assist you in enduring your profession in the best possible way.