Establishing a Learning Community to Support Master’s Thesis Writing Students in a Problem-Based Learning Context

Abstract

Universities practicing problem-based learning (PBL) activities as part of their educational foundation teach students to work problem oriented through group work. At Aalborg University, the students are typically divided into groups of four to seven. Though, the master’s thesis is often written individually or in pairs. This study addresses the contradiction of PBL promoting a collective, group-oriented approach to teaching while the final thesis is individually or in pairs. A learning community (LC) was established among master’s thesis writing students supervised by the author to complement the traditional supervision. The LC was framed as monthly research meetings with progress presentations by the students followed by discussions among the students with the supervisor present. Thus, this pedagogical intervention aims to inspire new PBL practices in environments where students primarily work on individual projects. The purpose is not to create new teams or groups, but to create a learning community among students working problem and project based on their individual projects. The students find the LC a valuable addition to their thesis year. Individual students appreciate the group feeling for discussions, while paired students use the meetings to follow up on their own work and get new inputs to their work.