Abstract

A comparative analysis of 51 case problems used in five problem-based pedagogical models was
conducted to examine whether there are differences in their characteristics and the implications of such
differences on the selection and generation of ill-structured case problems. The five pedagogical models
were: situated learning, goal-based scenario, learning-by-design, problem-based learning and cognitive
flexibility hypertext. The analysis revealed that while all case problems were authentic and multi-
disciplinary, they varied across six themes for the pedagogical models examined: problem complexity,
nature of problem topic, problem task, problem product, problem solving activity, and type of effort.
The analysis also revealed that different kinds of case problems (e.g., dilemmas, design problems, case-
analysis problems) are appropriate for different problem-based pedagogical models. These findings and
their educational implications are described.

Nevertheless, as prior research has shown, pre-service teachers seem to have difficulties on both the
content and process levels of evidence-based reasoning (Csanadi et al. 2015; Stark et al. 2009; Yeh and
Santagata 2015). With respect to the content level, Lockhorst et al. (2010), for example, found that
teachers indicated a lack of scientific knowledge to assess pupils’ learning processes. Moreover, pre-
service teachers seem to rarely refer to scientific sources (Csanadi et al. 2015), and they show difficulties
with applying their knowledge to solve pedagogical problems (McNeill and Knight 2013). In rather rare
cases in which they use scientific theories and models, they often do so in a superficial manner
(Sampson and Blanchard 2012; Stark et al. 2009). With respect to the process level, van de Pol et al.