Problem-Based Learning: Student Engagement, Learning and Contextualized Problem-Solving. Occasional Paper

The adoption of problem-based learning as a teaching method in the advertising and public relations programs offered by the Business TAFE (Technical and Further Education) School at RMIT University is explored in this paper. The effect of problem-based learning on student engagement, student learning and contextualised problem-solving was investigated and it was found that students perceive problem-based learning to be beneficial. Several success factors for this approach are also identified. The research for this paper was undertaken by a novice researcher in the Community of Practice scholarship program, a program funded through the National Centre for Vocational Education Research's (NCVER) Building Researcher Capacity initiative. Three appendices are included: (1) Research methods; (2) the first questionnaire used for Student Engagement Survey 2008; and (3) the second questionnaire used for Student Engagement Survey 2008. (Contains 6 tables and 1 figure.)