Problem-based learning: evolving strategies and conversations for library instruction

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a teaching strategy that is currently being introduced in undergraduate curricula in colleges and universities across the country, particularly in applied areas such as engineering and the biological sciences. Faculty are increasingly interested in using PBL as an instructional tool because students more readily transfer the knowledge they acquire using PBL to real-world situations. Librarians at a June 2002 LOEX-of-West pre-conference workshop on PBL questioned how it could be used in the 50-minute library instruction period, since PBL relies on cooperative learning techniques for successful implementation. The librarians determined that PBL could be applied in the 50-minute library instruction period using specific Association of College and Research Libraries Information Literacy Competency Standards, but it could be more effectively implemented in two 75-minute periods where collaboration among students may more easily be facilitated.