Many of our faculty have expressed concern about their students’ critical thinking skills, and the Chairpersons of the Computer Information and Nursing Departments have requested faculty training in the area of teaching critical thinking from the Dean of Occupational and Technical Education. Problem-based Learning, a learning strategy with origins in the medical field that both improves critical thinking and incorporates itself into Learning Communities, was suggested by the President of the College and others as an effective solution. Problem-Based learning uses a practical problem or problems as the basis for teaching; in order to solve the problem(s), the students must learn the strategies/techniques/methods in the course material.


At the University of South Carolina Spartanburg, Problem-Based Learning was initiated in 1994 for College Math courses. A comparison of 37 courses that were traditionally taught revealed that the median success rate for problem-based courses was 75% compared to 56% for the traditionally taught courses. A larger percentage of problem-based learners also opted to take statistics the next semester than learners in the traditional sections, and the problem-based learners had a 76% success rate in that class, a strong indication that a lasting affect on students’ learning skills had been achieved.

• Instructional Technology Center

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