Considering that adequate implementation of PBL can be costly and difficult in times of tight resources and increasing student enrolment rates, scientific knowledge about the effectiveness of more direct teaching behaviours is also of great value. Instructional effectiveness research indicates that being clear and organised can increase the effectiveness of higher education teaching, as do expressiveness and enthusiasm as well as rapport and interaction with students.
Knowledge on effective teaching behaviours can also inform more pragmatically useful and productive gradual adaptations of student-centred forms of teaching and learning such as PBL with regard to local and disciplinary contexts (e.g. Hmelo-Silver, 2012).