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

This paper reports the findings of one stage of an ongoing project to evaluate a problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum. Focusing on the students themselves, the ethnographic study explored how undergraduate nursing students (n=17) managed and made sense of a PBL programme. Fieldwork and ethnographic interviews revealed the students' perceptions of the purpose of PBL and further issues that were of concern were identified and labelled the uncertainty of functioning without a clearly delineated educational structure, perceptions of knowledge acquisition, understanding of group interaction processes, and the role of the facilitator. These findings and the implications that arise as a result are discussed.