Making sense of problem-based learning: the perceptions and experiences ofundergraduate nursing students

This paper reports the findings of one stage of an ongoing project to evalu ate a problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum. Focusing on the students the mselves, the ethnographic study explored how undergraduate nursing students (n = 17) managed and made sense of a PBL programme. Fieldwork and ethnogra phic interviews revealed the students' perceptions of the purpose of PBL an d further issues that were of concern were identified and Labelled the unce rtainty of functioning without a clearly delineated educational structure, perceptions of knowledge acquisition, understanding of group interaction pr ocesses, and the role of the facilitator. These findings and the implicatio ns that arise as a result are discussed.