George Watson and Mark Serva have been implementing problem-based learning (PBL) techniques at UD for years. Now, their efforts have caught the attention of institutions around the world.

Watson, senior associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and Serva, associate professor of accounting and management information systems, traveled to Dokuz Eylul University in Turkey during the summer to demonstrate how PBL techniques can be used in that university’s classrooms. During a four-day workshop, they shared techniques with 45 faculty members interested in using PBL in their teaching.

“Their business college has embraced PBL, and the president of Dokuz Eylul has asked that the college move completely to PBL by next year,” Serva says.

A form of collaborative learning, PBL allows student to work in groups or teams to tackle problems instead of listening to lectures. Serva says the professors always start with problems that students are expected to solve.
Watson says he and Deborah Allen, associate professor of biology, have worked with universities in such places as Peru, Singapore, Malaysia and Japan. “UD is very well-known now internationally for PBL, so people tend to hear about us,” he says.

Watson, Serva, seven other UD faculty members and one graduate student also recently attended the 2006 PBL conference, “Connecting to the Real World,” in Lima, Peru. The conference drew more than 450 participants from more than 40 countries.

For more information about PBL, visit [www.udel.edu/pbl].