The problem‐based learning process as finding and being in flow

Abstract

Although students’ talk in problem‐based learning (PBL) tutorials is the pivotal learning site in PBL, few studies have involved conducting a discourse analysis of this talk. This paper focuses on what we can learn about the PBL process from listening to how PBL students talked about it in naturally occurring talk in tutorials. The illuminative concept of the PBL process as finding and being in flow was derived from a critical discourse analysis of the tutorials of two PBL teams. This paper proposes that conceiving of the PBL process as finding and being in flow assists in maximising the potential for student learning in PBL.

Keywords:

• problem‐based learning
• flow
• discourse analysis
• talk