Founded on the key pedagogy of Problem-Based Learning (PBL), it is critical that the lecturers at Republic Polytechnic (RP) are equipped with the knowledge and skills to effectively facilitate the learning of our students within a PBL environment. This is especially pertinent in the current educational landscape of Singapore where institutes of higher learning are intensifying their efforts to improve the standards of teaching and learning within their classrooms. While past research has focused on the attributes of effective facilitators in the PBL classroom, we argue that it is equally, if not more, important to understand what the barriers to good facilitation are. Through an analysis of data from the certification exercise in facilitation, the results suggest three key barriers that impeded the tutors’ facilitation and consequently precluded them from attaining their certificate in facilitation. This paper examines the three common barriers to effective facilitation in a PBL classroom and discusses possible ways to help PBL tutors mitigate these barriers.

Published in: Canada International Conference on Education, 2017

• Date of Conference: 26-29 June, 2017
• DOI: 10.2053/CICE.2017.0199
• Electronic ISBN: 978-1-908320-83-4
• Conference Location: University of Toronto Mississauga, Canada