Are We Ready for Problem-based Learning? A Proposal of Institutional Diagnosis in Computing Higher Education

In Computing Higher Education (CHE), the desired transformation of traditional teaching and learning methods, almost always based on the transmission of information and content-based curricula, has been the objective of several educational institutions that wish to combat students' demotivation and dropout. Among successful approaches, Problem-Based Learning stands out as one of the most effective and radical methods regarding pedagogical innovations. While the implementation of the PBL means a great opportunity to achieve better educational performance, it also represents many challenges that can only be managed if they are first known and understood. In this context, the motivation for this study comes from the following research question: "How to know if an institution at CHE is ready to implement the PBL?". As a response, an institutional diagnostic model regarding the adoption of PBL is proposed. From an opinion survey with 38 technical educational institutions in computing, involving 302 participants, the results showed that the model reached its objective, allowing the identification of favorable, warning, and critical points regarding the adoption of PBL in these institutions.

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