Comparing Educational Strategies

Characteristic	Inquiry-based Learning	Project-based Learning	Problem-based Learning	Case-based Learning
Explores real world problems and challenges.	May or may not.	May or may not.	√	√
Students work in groups.	√	May or may not.	√	√
Involves active and engaged learning.	√	√	√	√
Students are self-directed.	√	√	√	√
Students practice and learn organizational skills.	√	√	√	√
Students practice and learn research skills.	√	√	√	√
Students develop communication skills.	√	√	√	√
Approach allows flexibility.	√	√	√	√
Process allows integration of technology.	√	√	√	√
Students decide what they need to learn, identify resources, decide how best to learn from them, use resources to report learning, and assess their progress.	√	√	√	√
Students have a significant voice in selecting the content areas and nature of the topics they investigate.	√
Students have some choice in deciding what they will work on.	√	√
Students focus on developing a product or creations, and complete a project.		√
Educational goals may or may not address a specific topic or problem.	√	√	√	√
Problems are truly ill-structured – there is not meant to be one solution. As new information is gathered in a reiterative process, perception of the problem, and thus the solution, changes.		√	√	√
Students make decisions within a prescribed framework.		√	√	√
Problems drive the curriculum.			√	√
Greatly encourages collaboration and cooperative learning.		May or may not	May or may not.	May or may not.
Is learner-centered and intrinsically motivated.		√	√	√
Approach to learning that focuses on solving a problem and acquiring knowledge.			√	√
A specific problem is specified by the course instructor or identified by the scenario/situation.			√	√
Using a case-based approach engages students in discussion of specific situations, typically real-world examples.			May or may not.	√
Problems add meaning by providing students with the opportunity to see theory in practice.			√	√
Has a high degree of relevancy. (Problems focus on current events, student lives, and/or actual events at the local, national, and international level.			√	√
Has human interest, creates empathy with central characters and has strong decision-making focus.			√	√
Cases usually require students to analyze data in order to reach a conclusion. Assignments are open-ended; students practice choosing appropriate analytic techniques.			May or may not.	√
Students engage in discussions of specific cases or situations; approach focuses on building knowledge through the case which requires analysis and critical thinking skills.			√	√