TY - JOUR TI - Is collaboration a necessary component of problem-based learning? DO - https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/T37M0673 PY - 2014 AB - The instructional method of problem-based learning (PBL) has continued to grow in popularity among educators at all levels despite a lack of definitive empirical support for its use. To date, research findings documenting positive outcomes associated with PBL have been largely insufficient in addressing many of the concerns raised by critics of the method. Specifically, many of the studies in problem-based learning to this point have involved an absence of experimental control and/or the presence of significant methodological flaws, both of which have drawn the criticism that the collective body of research related to the efficacy of PBL suffers from a general lack of validity (Colliver, 2000; Savery, 2006). The current study involved a component analysis of problem-based learning conducted in an authentic learning environment. This research sought to answer the following questions: What is the influence of positive interdependence within groups on student performance in PBL? What is the influence of the social aspect of group work on student performance in PBL? What is the influence of PBL instructional designs on the development of skills needed for successful collaboration? A crossed, within-subjects design was used to compare the academic performance of students across three experimental conditions within the context of three sections of an undergraduate Educational Psychology course. The three conditions included PBL-Positive Interdependence, PBL-High Positive Interdependence, and PBL-Independent. The instructor, course content, instructional time, and course materials were controlled to ensure consistency across the three sections. The results of the current study suggest that the collaborative aspect of PBL is essential to the success of students engaged in this form of instruction. Additionally, the findings of the current study suggest that student success in collaborative learning environments may rely on the existence of adequate structure to scaffold the students’ development of skills related to the collaborative process. The findings of the current study confirm that PBL is most effective when implemented in its purest form, and that problem-based instructional designs without a collaborative component cannot be considered as a pedagogically equivalent alternative to problem-based learning as it is commonly defined. KW - Education KW - Problem-based learning LA - eng ER -