PBL is a pedagogic answer to the handling of an increasing amount of information within a limited time available for study.
Life is too short and knowledge is too broad.
To be effective and efficient, learning must be relevant to learners' objectives. PBL is an instructional method characterised by the use of economic problems as a context for students to learn problem-solving skills and acquire knowledge about economics and social sciences. It has its roots in medical education at McMaster University in the late 1960s and has since spread throughout North America and in other parts of the world. It is applied widely to learning in most professional schools and disciplines, including Nursing, Architecture, Engineering, Archaeology, Law, Business Studies, Art, etc. Using PBL, students learn to be self-directed, independent and interdependent learners motivated to solve the problem under consideration.