Abstract
This chapter provides an account of the transformation from problem-based learning (PBL) to knowledge creation (KC) for science learning in a high school in Singapore. Through a design research methodology, teachers and researchers worked jointly in an attempt to bring theory and practice together to support students in learning science. In each phase of the implementation of PBL, findings showed that the teachers struggled to maintain a balance between the emphasis on content in school science learning and process of problem solving in PBL. KC was eventually introduced to address the perceived gap between school science content learning and process development in the third cycle. This chapter describes the PBL activity as enacted in each research cycle using cultural-historical activity theory and explains how knowledge creation addressed the tension between content and process in each cycle of the design research.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Albanese, M. A., & Mitchell, S. (1993). Problem-based learning: A review of the literature on its outcomes and implementation issues. Academic Medicine, 68, 52–81.
Angeli, C. (2002). Teachers practical theories for the design and implementation of problem-based learning. Science Education International, 13(3), 9–15.
Bereiter, C., & Scardamalia, M. (2003). Learning to work creatively with knowledge. In E. De Corte, L. Verschaffel, N. Entwistle, & J. van Merrienboer (Eds.), Unravelling basic components and dimensions of powerful learning environments (EARLI advances in learning and instruction series, pp. 5–68). Oxford: Elsevier Science.
Bereiter, C., Scardamalia, M., Cassells, C., & Hewitt, J. (1997). Postmodernism, knowledge building, and elementary science. The Elementary School Journal, 97, 329–340.
Brown, A. L. (1992). Design experiments: Theoretical and methodological challenges in creating complex interventions in classroom settings. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 2, 141–178.
Brown, A. L., & Campione, J. C. (1996). Psychological and the design of innovative learning environments: On procedures, principles, and systems. In L. Schauble & R. Glaser (Eds.), Contributions of instructional innovation to understanding learning (pp. 289–325). Hillsdale: Erlbaum. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Design-based Research Collective. (2003). Design-based research: An emerging paradigm for educational inquiry. Educational Researcher, 32, 5–8.
Douchy, F., Segers, M., Van den Bossche, P., & Gijbels, D. (2003). Effects of problem-based learning: A meta-analysis. Learning and Instruction, 13, 533–568.
Engeström, Y. (1987). Learning by expanding: An activity-theoretical approach to developmental research. Helsinki: Orienta-Konsultit. Retrieved from http://lchc.ucsd.edu/MCA/Paper/Engeström/expanding/toc.htm
Engeström, Y. (1999). Activity theory and individual and social transformation. In Y. Engeström, R. Miettinen, & R. L. Punamaki (Eds.), Perspectives on activity theory (pp. 19–38). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gallagher, S., & Stepien, W. (1996). Content acquisition in problem-based learning: Depth versus breadth in American studies. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 19, 257–275.
Greenwald, N. (2000). Learning from problems. The Science Teacher, 67, 28–32.
Hill, A. M., & Smith, H. A. (2005). Research in purpose and value of the study of technology in secondary schools: A theory of authentic learning. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 15, 19–32.
Hmelo-Silver, C. E. (2004). Problem-based learning: What and how do students learn? Educational Psychology Review, 16, 235–266.
Kozulin, A. (1986). The concept of activity in Soviet psychology: Vygotsky, his disciples and critics. American Psychologist, 41, 264–274.
Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning; Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lee, H., & Bae, S. (2008). Issues in implementing a structured problem-based learning strategy in a volcano unit: A case study. International Journal of Science and Mathematics, 6, 655–676.
Leont’ev, A. N. (1978). Activity, consciousness, and personality. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.
Liu, M., Hsieh, P., Cho, Y., & Schallert, D. L. (2006). Middle school students’ self-efficacy, attitudes and achievement in a computer-enhanced problem-based learning environment. Journal of Interactive Learning Research, 17, 225–242.
Mergendoller, J. R., Bellisimo, Y., & Maxwell, N. L. (2000). Comparing problem-based learning and traditional instruction in high school economics. The Journal of Educational Research, 93, 374–382.
Miettinen, R. (1999). Transcending traditional school learning: Teachers’ work and networks of learning. In Y. Engestrom, R. Miettinen, & R. L. Punamaki (Eds.), Perspectives on activity theory (pp. 325–344). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Mortimer, E., & Scott, P. (2003). Meaning making in secondary science classrooms. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Paavola, S., & Hakkarainen, K. (2005). The knowledge creation metaphor – An emergent epistemological approach to learning. Science & Education, 14, 535–557.
Savery, J. R. (2006). Overview of problem-based learning: Definitions and distinctions. The Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-based Learning, 1, 9–20. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=ED482724
Savery, J. R., & Duffy, T. M. (1996). Problem based learning: An instructional model and its constructivist framework. In B. Wilson (Ed.), Constructivist learning environments: Case studies in instructional design (pp. 135–148). Englewood Cliffs: Educational Technological Publications.
Savery, J. R., & Duffy, T. M. (2001). Problem based learning: An instructional model and its constructivist framework (CRLT Technical Report No. 16–01). Bloomington: Indiana University.
Scardamalia, M. (2002). Collective cognitive responsibility for the advancement of knowledge. In B. Smith (Ed.), Liberal education in a knowledge society (pp. 67–98). Chicago: Open Court.
Scardamalia, M., & Bereiter, C. (2003). Knowledge building. In J. Guthrie (Ed.), Encyclopedia of education (pp. 1370–1373). New York: Macmillan Reference, USA.
Sfard, A. (1998). On two metaphors for learning and the dangers of choosing just one. Educational Researcher, 27, 4–13.
Sonmez, D., & Lee, H. (2003). Problem-based learning in science. ERIC digest (Report No. EDO-SE-03-04). Columbus: ERIC Clearinghouse for Science, Mathematics, and Environment Education. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED482724). Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=ED482724
Varela, F., Thompson, E., & Rosch, E. (1991). The embodied mind. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Vernon, D. T. A., & Blake, R. L. (1993). Does problem-based learning work? A meta-analysis of evaluation research. Academic Medicine, 68, 550–563.
Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Yeo, J. (2014). From Problem-Based Learning to Knowledge Creation. In: Tan, S., So, H., Yeo, J. (eds) Knowledge Creation in Education. Education Innovation Series. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-047-6_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-047-6_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-287-046-9
Online ISBN: 978-981-287-047-6
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)