PBL from the teachers' perspective - Conceptions of the tutor's role within problem based learning

The background of the project "Problem Based Learning in Environmental Scie nces" was a dissatisfaction with the lack of inspiring connections between current research and undergraduate education. The PBL approach was adopted in order to raise the level of activity in undergraduate learning. Another reason was the emphasis on problem orientation in PBL which includes an imp ortant proportion of interdisciplinarity in finding appropriate solutions t o environmental problems. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impleme ntation of PBL in environmental education from the teachers' perspective. S even teachers were interviewed. The interviews were transcribed and subject to a qualitative analysis. The teachers were in general positive to contin ue to work with the PBL program. They appreciated the closet contact with t he students. Difficulties experienced comprise a lack of consensus amongst the teachers and lack of time for discussion and planning during the projec t. The teachers conceived of the essence of PBL either from a learning pers pective or a teaching perspective. Characteristic of the learning perspecti ve is a focus on the students' learning process, while in the teaching pers pective focus is on the methodological teaching aspects of PBL. There were also two different perspectives on the teacher's role as a tutor in PBL, th at are categorised either as a supportive role or a directive role. Charact eristic of the supportive role is an integrated view of the tutors' role. T he students' activity, responsibility and influence on the education was em phasised. The supportive tutor's role was mainly focusing the group process . The directive tutor's role were characterised by a restricted view or unc ertainty of the teacher's role in PBL. The different ways of conceiving PBL may explain some of the experienced difficulties amongst the teachers.