Blended Problem-Based Learning: Designing Collaboration Opportunities for Unguided Group Research Through the Use of Web 2.0 Tools

Abstract

This chapter explores the challenges of designing a networked approach to problem-based learning, encouraging students to engage in collaborative and interdependent learning online. The chapter reports on a blended design for a postgraduate law programme following a problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum, which introduced group wiki and blogging tools for students to use in a series of unguided group research activities. Evaluation focused on the online stage of the PBL process, looking at the reception of the study methods for the research activity and the effectiveness of the web tools in supporting the unguided group research tasks. This study highlights the challenges for instructional support in the management of the learning process for these tasks—specifically in addressing students’ anxiety over their performance and a perceived need for individual and collective feedback in support of the unguided research task. The chapter discusses how far we can ‘design in’ and support collaborative learning within a problem-based networked learning context and explores the role and responsibilities of the PBL tutor in facilitating unguided group research tasks.