The approach is designed to give students the opportunity to identify the ideas and skills they will need to work through the problem. She suggests ways to find or create problems appropriate for classroom use, with a discussion of the characteristics of those most likely to engage student interest. Because such material is not found in traditional textbooks, seeking it out requires a certain amount of creativity. She suggests that the contents of movies, newspapers, and even novels can serve as bases for a problem. The technique is used not only by students, but also by faculty members during class sessions, and by small groups to review patients' case studies.
Students begin by collecting information about a disease or disorder.
They are then able to connect symptoms with diagnostic findings. The result, ideally, is a chart that enables students to organize and associate disease and injury-related information in ways meaningful to them. The exercise produces a system in which students' own anxiety mirrors the circumstances of international life studied in the course, the editors say. Implementation guidelines for instructors contemplating a switch to problem-based learning are specified, too. In creating the book, they argue that problem-based learning speaks directly to the modern demands placed on undergraduate education.