ABSTRACT
Let us begin by distinguishing PBL (uppercase) from pbl (lowercase). PBL is a distinctive, well-documented instructional approach that originated in medical education. Although there are variations, and although it has been applied in other disciplines, practitioners of PBL acknowledge its medical school origins and tend to adhere to the structure and procedures systematized by Barrows (1986). Lowercase pbl refers to an indefinite range of educational approaches that give problems a central place in learning activity. Mathematics and physics have traditionally done this, but most other disciplines have not. A problem-based literature course, for instance, would be a novelty even today. However, case-based education, as practiced in law schools and in business schools, would count as lowercase pbl, insofar as the cases are treated as problems to be solved, much like the cases that typically figure in medical PBL.
