Problem-Based Learning is Compatible with Human Cognitive Architecture: Commentary on Kirschner, Sweller, and Clark (2006)

Kirschner, Sweller, and Clark (2006) suggest that unguided or minimally guided instructional approaches are less effective and efficient for novices than guided instructional approaches because they ignore the structures that constitute human cognitive architecture. While we concur with the authors on this point, we do not agree to their equation of problem-based learning with minimally guided instruction. In this commentary, we argue that problem-based learning is an instructional approach that allows for flexible adaptation of guidance, and that, contrary to Kirschner et al.'s conclusions, its underlying principles are very well compatible with the manner in which our cognitive structures are organized.

Notes

¹The problem is part of a first-year course of the problem-based psychology curriculum at Erasmus University, The Netherlands.

²In the “Little Monsters” example, the issues studied by students were (a) the nature of phobic fear; (b) the role of classical and operant conditioning in fear development; (c) alternatives to Pavlovian and Skinnerian conceptualization of conditioning; (d) the biological basis of the stress response (sweating; pounding heart); and (e) treatment procedures for phobic fear.