Triumphs and trials of using problem based learning in marketing communications education: perspectives from educators and students

Abstract

[Abstract]: The key engine that drives the new marketing landscape or the E-conomy is KNOWLEDGE. The demand for knowledge may have intensified, but the suppliers of knowledge – the education institutions - are still struggling to meet such demand. The challenge is not just about supplying content and technical knowledge, it is about how to produce a new breed of employees who can create and manage knowledge in the dynamic E-conomy. And it is amidst such dynamics, that the Diploma of Marketing in Temasek Business School adopted a problem-based learning (PBL) model when it restructured its Marketing Communications Section’s academic architecture. This paper looks at the trials and triumphs of adopting PBL from the educators’and students’ perspectives. The paper concludes with implications and issues for marketing communications educators in using PBL. The finding also supports the proposed fundamental shift to adopt PBL as a philosophy rather than an instructional tool.