Warming up for PBL: a course in mathematical modelling and problem solving

Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2015

The step from traditional teaching to PBL is considerable and it has previously been proposed that students should be skilled at problem solving before entering a PBL course. In this paper, we first discuss some key ideas behind the design of a successful course in mathematical modelling and problem solving for engineering students. A central aim of the course is to help the students to understand the power of learning by exploration, a missing key compo-nent in the students’ ability to solve problems. We then discuss how this kind of course can serve as an intermediate step in a progression towards more self-directed project-based and problem-based learning.