ABSTRACT
Organizing learning around problem solving has a long tradition when teaching adults to carry out specific jobs. Examples include traditional apprenticeships, such as those described by J. S. Brown, Collins, and Duguid (1989) and Lave (1977), and graduate school education for the professions of law, business, and medicine (Barrows, 1985; Williams, 1992). Solving real problems with the guidance of an expert has helped adult learners acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to perform specific jobs and to link this knowledge with the social and functional contexts in which it is used.
