Dr. Eugene L. Anderson, Associate Executive Director and Director, ADEA Center for Educational Policy and Research
Problem-based learning (PBL) is now 15 years old and seems to be coming of age. Wherever curricular change is under way, PBL is finding a niche. Whether helping to shape a single course or redefining an entire curriculum, PBL has established itself as a respected means of teaching dentistry.
In this edition of the ADEA CCI Liaison Ledger, our guest commentary comes from Dr. Nadeem Karimbux of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, where PBL originated. He presents an overview of this teaching strategy, its benefits and challenges, and its ancient roots. In our faculty spotlight, we talk with Dr. Marsha A. Pyle, Dean at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Dentistry, about her role in overseeing a major curriculum redesign at Case School of Dental Medicine, which made use of PBL. We also visit the University of British Columbia, which has embraced PBL throughout its curriculum and taken this innovation into less familiar territory—its admissions process.
Links to JDE articles and to the sites mentioned in this edition’s stories are available under Resources. We hope you will use these to explore whether PBL may have a role to play in the curriculum at your home institution.