You meet every week in small groups of 12 to a maximum of 15 students. You systematically work together on analysing a case, brainstorming, setting learning goals, studying and coming up with creative solutions to problems which reflect real-life situations. All these activities are guided and supervised by a tutor.
In the first meeting, together with the other students in your PBL group, you start by analysing the case. You discuss how to approach a problem and the subjects on which you need further information.
You then go to the multimedia library to find books, magazines, videos and websites that you use to solve the problem. A chairperson leads the PBL-meetings and the minutes are recorded by a minute taker. The tutor provides support to the group learning process and gives feedback on the academic progress.
In the second meeting you present your solutions to the problem together with your fellow students. You supplement each other’s information and encourage one another to find additional information or to think further about the problem. Everybody has to contribute because you are mutually dependent on each other’s prior knowledge, personal experiences, view on subject at hand and the knowledge acquired to solve the problem.
PBL requires effective planning, clear arrangements and considerable self-discipline.