There are a range of strategies that may be classified as ‘‘problem-based’’ (Boud &
Feletti, 1991; Hoffman & Ritchie, 1997; Milne & McConnell, 2001). We posit that elements
of the approach taken within MarlinaLS resemble PBL in its simplest form, since students are routinely confronted with practical-based problems via MarlinaLS, which
provides the stimulus for learning to occur. Education researchers have found PBL to
be superior to traditional instruction methods for enhancing students’ conceptual understanding,
while also assisting their ability to engage in self-directed learning and enabling
them to develop greater long-term information retention (see, for example, Gallagher,
1997; Milne & McConnell, 2001). Enabling students to identify and address their learning
needs and encouraging them to develop and reflect upon their understanding are generally
considered to be important elements of a successful PBL approach that are incorporated
into the setup and design of the MarlinaLS system.