1 
 
 
 
 
Problem-based Learning in Graduate Management 
Education: An Integrative Model and Interdisciplinary 
Application 
 
Judi Brownell and Daphne A. Jameson 
Cornell University  
 
 
(Published in Journal of Management Education (2004), 28(5), 558-577 
doi: 10.1177/1052562904266073.) 
 
 
 
 
  
 2 
Abstract 
This article develops a model of problem-based learning (PBL) and shows how PBL has been 
used for a decade in one graduate management program. PBL capitalizes on synergies among 
cognitive, affective, and behavioral learning. Although management education usually privileges 
cognitive learning, affective learning is equally important. By focusing on real-world problems, 
PBL helps students appreciate multiple perspectives, recognize nonrational elements of decision 
making, and confront ethical quandaries. Together, cognitive and affective learning underpin the 
essential third element: behavioral learning about how to implement plans, lead teams, resolve 
conflict, persuade others, and communicate with multiple constituencies. Specific examples of 
PBL projects illustrate this interrelationship. 
 
 Keywords: affective learning, cognitive learning, behavioral learning, problem-based 
learning, implementation, communication, leadership 
  
 3 
Problem-based Learning in Graduate Management Education: An Integrative Model and 
Interdisciplinary Application 
 The popular press, academic journals, and accreditation standards (e.g., American 
Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business, 1994) have emphasized that higher education must 
develop individuals who not only have substantial knowledge but who can also apply that 
knowledge to make things happen in an increasingly complex world. Effective leaders must 
work productively in diverse groups, must use good judgment in handling complex issues, and 
must articulate a compelling vision to multiple stakeholders. 
 Leadership today requires more than traditional academic knowledge and practical skills. 
To effectively implement strategies and plans, leaders must develop the attitudes and sensitivities 
that lead to wise decision making and appropriate action. That is, learning must be affective as 
well as cognitive and behavioral.  
 Business schools have been charged with the daunting responsibility of transforming 
bright students into effective leaders (Linder & Smith, 1992; Neelankavil, 1994; O’Reilly, 1994; 
Porter & McKibbin, 1988). In response to this challenge, faculty members have developed 
internships and mentorships, introduced case studies and skills workshops, and experimented 
with other instructional innovations. Although each has its strengths, few attempt to integrate all 
three types of learning. 
 One recent educational approach, problem-based learning (PBL), holds great promise for 
achieving all three learning outcomes. This pedagogy uses a prototypical, real-world problem as 
the focus for student-centered active learning. After using PBL in graduate management 
education for almost a decade, we have found that in addition to helping students achieve 
cognitive and behavioral outcomes, PBL enables students to recognize how affective sources, 
 4 
such as cultural orientation, personal style, ethical framework, and prior experiences, influence 
managerial effectiveness. With this insight, students are better able to develop competencies in 
the often neglected affective learning dimension. Focus on affective learning provides students 
with a more balanced understanding of complex management situations. Furthermore, affective 
learning serves as a critical link between cognitive learning and behavioral (skills-oriented) 
learning that motivates students and enhances educational outcomes. 
 This article begins by presenting a model that illustrates how a problem-based approach 
integrates the analytical learning process, based on cognitive sources, with the interpretive 
learning process, based on affective sources, and how this combination leads to skills 
development. Next, we explain how PBL has been applied to an interdisciplinary project in a 
graduate management curriculum. Finally, we conclude by discussing several assessment 
challenges that educators should anticipate if they adopt a PBL approach. 
 
A Model of PBL 
 PBL presents several critical shifts from traditional educational models (Bernstein, 
Tipping, Bercovitz, & Skinner, 1995; Duch, Allen, & White, 1997; Gallagher, 1997; Maudsley, 
1999; Milter & Stinson, 1995). PBL was developed in the medical profession more than 30 years 
ago in response to the discovery that students who did well on tests often could not apply the 
concepts when later faced with patients in clinical settings. PBL’s goal is long-term learning that 
results in behavioral change and not just conceptual mastery. 
 To achieve this goal, PBL methodology organizes learning around a realworld problem 
rather than in a linear sequence of topics or concepts. Student teams are presented with a 
problem that serves as the stimulus for subsequent learning. An important feature of PBL 
 5 
methodology is the selection of a relatively unstructured, prototypical problem. Students learn 
how to define the problem as well as solve it, wrestling with alternative solutions and weighing 
the pros and cons. Yet because the problem is prototypical and not idiosyncratic, the learning is 
directly relevant to future problems that students will face (Conant, 1996; Marsick, 1990).  
 PBL also envisions specific relationships among the participants: individual students, 
teams composed of classmates, and the teacher. With self-management as an objective, PBL 
stresses that each student must be responsible for his or her own learning. Students work in 
teams so that collective insight will offset individual limitations (Clutterbuck, 2002; Ettington & 
Camp, 2002). The teacher becomes a facilitator and resource, asking key questions and providing 
instruction when students recognize the need for information and support. 
 The literature on PBL clarifies both these distinguishing features and the approach’s core 
contributions (Bridges & Hallinger, 1997; Delafuente, Munyer, Angaran, & Doering, 1994; 
Lohman, 2002; Lohman & Finkelstein, 2000; Maudsley, 1999; Mayer, 2002). The growing 
number of educators who have successfully applied PBL to the management curriculum attest to 
its potential to dramatically change the next generation of business leaders (Chaharbaghi & Cox, 
1995; Cockerill, Stewart, Hamilton, & Douglas, 1996; Kazem & Cox, 1995; Raelin, 1997; 
Stepien & Gallagher, 1993; Stinson, 1990; Stinson & Milter, 1996; Watson & Temkin, 2000).  
 We propose an integrated model of PBL (Figure 1) to explain how the analytical learning 
process, based on cognitive sources, and the interpretive learning process, based on affective 
sources, form the foundation for developing management skills and for making judgments about 
their appropriate application. Our model illustrates the relationships that PBL establishes among 
the three learning domains: cognitive, affective, and behavioral. Each leads to specific learning 
outcomes (Table 1).  
 6 
 The integrative model reflects our philosophy of and key assertions about PBL. First, 
although educational programs usually privilege cognitive learning, affective learning is equally 
important. Affective sources of learning, such as attitudes, values, ethics, and culture, 
counterbalance cognitive sources, such as knowledge, observation, and research. Second, 
behavioral learning, or skills development, is not an independent add-on, but it derives directly 
from the synergy between cognitive and affective domains. The analytical process of cognitive 
learning, complemented by the interpretive process of affective learning, forms a solid base for 
skills-oriented learning. Third, an interdisciplinary problem can serve not only as a catalyst to 
motivate students’ cognitive and affective learning but also as an impetus for skills-oriented 
learning by providing team tasks that interweave challenges from several disciplines. 
 
The Analytical Learning Process 
 Through the analytical learning process, students draw on a range of cognitive sources, 
including traditional course materials, readings, and research, as well as observation, discussion, 
and study related to the specific problem. Advocates of PBL have frequently emphasized that the 
students achieve cognitive outcomes by developing their reasoning processes in solving real 
problems (Williams, Sewell, & Humphrey, 2002). Norman and Schmidt (1992), for instance, 
suggest that PBL results in three main cognitive abilities: (a) to acquire factual knowledge by 
seeking and using a variety of resources, (b) to transfer general principles and concepts to solve 
similar problems, and (c) to use examples acquired through PBL to solve future problems. 
 The analytical learning process has a restructuring character: Learners reuse and 
reformulate past knowledge to comprehend new knowledge (Shanley & Kelly, 1995). Analytical 
learning often begins with factual knowledge but moves quickly to the understanding of 
 7 
principles that underpin business practice. Through the analytical process, learners compare and 
contrast concrete examples to identify those principles that apply to different situations. The 
cognitive outcomes of the analytical learning process are necessary for, but not sufficient in, 
handling real-world business problems. 
 
The Interpretive Learning Process 
 Although numerous advocates have highlighted cognitive learning as a key benefit of 
PBL, far fewer advocates have addressed an equally important outcome: affective learning. 
Within this term we include the ability to monitor one’s own responses, to recognize how 
people’s perceptions and motivations influence their behavior, to appreciate cultural differences, 
and to identify ethical dilemmas. Regardless of how much factual knowledge students acquire 
and how many business principles they can explain, implementing solutions to business 
problems requires insight into other people and oneself. 
 Affective learning results from an interpretive process. It starts with self-insight— 
exploration of one’s own values, beliefs, ethical framework, cultural background, and personal 
style. Then, learners must compare themselves to others in these areas and must develop an 
informed insight that will influence their interaction with others. The interpretive learning 
process thus involves both distancing one’s own viewpoints and feelings and moving closer to 
others’ viewpoints and feelings. Like cognitive learning, affective learning is necessary for, but 
not sufficient in, addressing real-world business problems. 
  
 8 
The Process of Developing Implementation Skills 
 The greatest contribution of PBL is the opportunity for students to capitalize on the 
synergy of cognitive and affective learning by developing and demonstrating the concrete 
implementation skills needed to handle complex business problems. Implementation skills 
include such behaviors as interacting to make wise team decisions, convincing others, providing 
leadership, communicating with various constituencies, and following through.  
 A well-chosen problem, explored through the analytical and interpretive learning 
processes, yields a group of team tasks that requires integrated learning rather than fragmented 
learning. An interdisciplinary approach is realistic because business problems usually cut across 
typical curricular boundaries. Thus, PBL encourages students to develop implementation skills 
that mirror those required to meet future challenges that they will face. 
 
PBL in the Graduate Management Curriculum 
 Over the past decade, a problem-based team project has been the centerpiece of the 
Master of Management in Hospitality (MMH) curriculum offered by Cornell University’s School 
of Hotel Administration. The goal of this 2-year, American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of 
Business– accredited graduate program is to educate future leaders in the global hospitality 
industry, defined broadly to include lodging, food service, travel, tourism, real estate, consulting, 
and related sectors. The MMH program encompasses all the elements of a traditional MBA 
curriculum, enriched with applications, illustrations, and cases from the hospitality industry.  
 MMH graduates need not only solid technical knowledge about the functional areas of 
business but also the ability to implement plans through effective leadership in a multicultural, 
people-oriented industry struggling to balance traditional human values with technological 
 9 
innovation. Special features of the MMH program that help students achieve this leadership 
ability include an assessment center, individual development plans, mentorships, internships, and 
benchmarking of communication and group-process skills to achieve a standard of excellence 
expected by industry employers (Brownell & Chung, 2001). 
 The problem-based team project unifies the required first-year MMH curriculum and is 
many students’ most memorable educational experience. The second-semester project allows 
teams of six or seven students to apply what they learned in first-semester courses 
(organizational behavior, quantitative methods, information technology, financial economics, 
strategic management, and managerial communication) as well as what they are learning 
concurrently in second-semester courses (financial management, human resource management, 
food and beverage management, marketing, and property-asset development and management). 
All second-semester courses are integrated into the team project; students apply concepts and 
information from each course, and the assignments prepare students to complete the final project 
report and client presentation.  
 The interdisciplinary project problems that we have used address prototypical questions 
that hospitality businesses face: 
Whether to build a new hotel or resort; if so, what the specific scope and features should 
be (Example 1: Whether to develop and build a new hotel in an urban renewal 
area in Boston. Example 2: Whether to develop and build a new luxury resort 
onFlorida’s gulf coast.). 
Whether to renovate an existing hotel or resort; if so, how and for what part of the market 
(Example 3: Whether to renovate and reposition a hotel located in a New 
Jersey business park near several major corporate headquarters. Example 4: 
How to renovate and reposition an Annapolis, Maryland, resort property.). 
Whether to renovate a historical building; if so, for what purpose and in what way 
(Example 5: How to transform a historic Manhattan insurance company 
 10 
building into a contemporary hotel, while respecting and capitalizing on the 
historic structure. Example 6: How to best develop a historic apartment 
building in Washington, D.C. as part of a hotel complex, as an independent 
hotel, as a condominium, or for another use.). 
How to capitalize on a new economic development, such as a convention center, urban 
renewal project, or economic initiative (Example 7: Whether to expand a New 
Orleans, Louisiana, convention hotel in anticipation of the state’s approval of 
gambling and the construction of a large land-based casino. Example 8: What 
kind of hotel to build near Boston’s new convention center, and what to do 
with a hotel near the old convention center.). 
 Each project helped students integrate their learning and apply concepts and principles to 
real-world challenges. 
 
Distinctive PBL Elements of the Team Project 
 How does the team project as implemented in the MMH program instantiate the unique 
features of PBL? The project has three distinctive elements of PBL—its goal, its methods, and 
the participant relationships. The goal is to help students recognize how, throughout their careers, 
they will apply business concepts like net present value, branding, and span of control, as well as 
methodologies like regression analysis, market research, and workforce planning. In isolation, 
these components of graduate management education often seem abstract and academic; in the 
integrated context of a real-world problem, they become concrete and relevant. 
 The methods of the team project help students develop problem-definition and problem-
solving skills as they confront a prototypical business situation. By anchoring learning in an 
authentic, interdisciplinary problem faced by a real company, the curriculum helps students see 
the importance of a logical decision-making process: defining criteria, doing primary and 
secondary research, identifying alternatives, weighing the pros and cons of each alterative, 
 11 
reaching team consensus on a solution, and communicating effectively with key constituents to 
persuade them of the wisdom of the proposed solution. Yet the team project balances team and 
individual learning as each student works on priorities defined in his or her personal 
development plan. 
 The participant relationships add richness and reality to the project. Although each 
student has ideas about how to approach the problem, the team context requires individuals to 
learn from and teach one another as well as to negotiate and compromise to reach consensus. By 
collaborating, each team capitalizes on its members’ individual strengths and expertise. Teams 
also learn to handle inevitable disagreements and conflicts. Providing guidance, faculty members 
address questions about the project not only in class but also outside of class as they accompany 
students on the field trip to the site and work closely with teams throughout the semester. The 
executive in residence often plays a key mentoring role as well. As a result of these collaborative 
relationships, students see each other and the faculty as valuable resources (O’Neil & Hopkins, 
2002).  
 Throughout the analytical and interpretive learning processes, as illustrated in our 
integrated model, the PBL team project leads to cognitive, affective, and behavioral learning 
outcomes. 
 
The Analytical Learning Process in the PBL Project 
 At the beginning of the semester, the industry clients—representatives of the property 
owners, developers, and operators—visit the campus and meet with the student consulting teams. 
The clients discuss the problem in detail and provide a letter of engagement that explains their 
expectations. To meet these expectations, students must engage in an analytical learning process 
 12 
that involves understanding complex concepts, conducting research, asking insightful questions, 
and pursuing other means of cognitive learning. 
 Understanding the stakeholder relationships, goals, and vested interests is an important 
initial learning experience. Owners may be individuals, partnerships, corporations, or institutions 
such as state teachers’ retirement systems. Companies that develop properties are often separate 
from operators, such as major hotel chains that are hired under management contracts. However, 
operators sometimes make capital investment in the project. 
 After conducting secondary research on the economic, social, and political contexts, 
students take a 3-day field trip to conduct primary research, which involves exploring the site, 
interviewing the people involved, and investigating the competition. Throughout the rest of 
semester, each team works independently to analyze the information gathered and to develop a 
comprehensive proposal. Typically, this might involve building construction or renovation, 
interior design, restaurant concepts, a human resources plan, a marketing plan, and complete 
financial analysis and projections to justify the proposal. Concepts and principles from each core 
course are applied to the problem at hand. 
 The project promotes cognitive learning by structuring inquiry around a series of 
questions. PBL posits that a relatively unstructured problem is most realistic and appropriate 
(Cockerill et al., 1996; Lewis & Dehler, 2000). A completely unstructured business problem—
for instance, an open-ended question such as, “Where should the company be headed?”—is too 
broad to create a coherent curriculum design. Our projects have therefore addressed two 
questions, one more structured and one less structured. First, should the company take a 
particular action, such as building a new property or renovating an existing one, and why or why 
not? If the first question is answered in the affirmative, then the second, more open-ended 
 13 
question is addressed: How should the company approach the project, and what specifically 
should it do? 
 The two-part question structure contrasts problems of uncertainty and problems of 
equivocality, as discussed by Weick and Van Ordern (1990). Managers need to know appropriate 
analytical approaches for addressing both types. The problem of uncertainty—should the 
company take this action?—is best addressed by external research and quantitative analysis. The 
problem of equivocality—what is the best way to accomplish this action?—depends on a 
different type of analysis, one that draws on divergent thinking to move from established 
principles and facts to creative possibilities. 
 Some proposals have impressed the clients specifically because students’ analytical 
learning process yielded innovative possibilities that corporate leaders had overlooked. For 
instance, for a new hotel in Boston (Example 8), one team proposed an ocean theme and a 
partnership with the Boston Aquarium. The hotel lobby would feature an impressive aquarium 
funded by the hotel owners but maintained by Aquarium experts, and the two organizations 
would use comarketing to promote one another. The hotel design and restaurants would continue 
the ocean theme. The students had confirmed with Boston Aquarium management that the plan 
was feasible, had factored the costs into their quantitative analysis, had compared their plan to 
existing comarketing initiatives, and had weighed the pros against the cons. 
 One cognitive outcome of the project is the ability to ask good questions. Students 
generate subquestions needed to answer the larger questions. For instance, in exploring how to 
develop a historic property in Washington, D.C. (Example 6), students posed the following types 
of subquestions: 
 14 
To what extent and in what ways is historic preservation compatible with technological 
expectations and legal requirements in contemporary hotels?  
Under what circumstances do hotel guests and clients value historic décor enough to pay 
a premium for it?  
How might changing urban conditions affect the future real estate values of such a 
property?  
How can the owners, the management company, and the employee union best work 
together to achieve successful business results?  
How do the available financing and projected financial results compare for a 
condominium development’s use versus a hotel development’s use of the 
historic building? 
 Students generated and answered dozens of similar questions in the course of this 
particular project. The sources of information included interviews with everyone from owners to 
current managers to managers of competitors to line employees to guests. Students met with the 
head of the convention and visitors bureau, historic preservation commission, labor union 
officials, labor lawyers, and developers who had worked on similar projects. Research also 
included compilation of documentary materials from a wide variety of sources. By the end of the 
semester, through the analytical learning process, students gained substantive knowledge about 
how businesses work, mastered important business concepts, and recognized how methods of 
inquiry help elucidate complex business situations. 
  
 15 
The Interpretive Learning Process in the PBL Project 
 In the PBL project, affective learning occurs through an interpretive process as students 
recognize that their peers have different perspectives on the problem and as they begin to 
increase their self-awareness and self-management. By the end of the experience, students have 
discovered that few business decisions are made on purely rational grounds and that few action 
plans are implemented without encountering unexpected ethical quandaries. 
 Recognizing multiple perspectives. The interpretive learning process helps students 
explore multiple perspectives and recognize that wise decisions regarding what to do are also 
based on interpreting a set of affective sources. The project lets students talk to many 
constituencies involved in the project directly or indirectly to focus on others’ ideas, not just their 
own, in solving a real-world problem. Housekeepers, desk clerks, and other line employees 
provide insights. Students must seek out, understand, respect, and interpret these variables to 
achieve good problem-solving results. 
 Furthermore, students work with a diverse group of team members. Each MMH class 
typically includes an even number of men and women, a wide range of ages, and 12 to 15 
nationalities, with Americans in the minority. Undergraduate educational backgrounds range 
from art history to engineering, and although every student has several years of full-time work 
experience, the organizations for which they worked vary greatly. Individual students often 
develop a strongly held conviction about the ideal solution to the problem that the project 
explores. But in understanding different perspectives and working with team members, they 
gradually grow in what some call emotional intelligence: the ability to recognize others’ 
contrasting viewpoints, to empathize even when disagreeing, and to use alternative ways of 
 16 
thinking to reach a better solution (Boyatzis, Stubbs, & Taylor, 2002; Goleman, Boyatzis, & 
McKee, 2002). 
 Increasing self-awareness and self-management. Emotional intelligence leads to the 
ability to monitor one’s own behavior as well as recognize its impact on other people. With the 
insight gained about others’ perspectives, students become more aware of how their own biases, 
personal styles, cultural backgrounds, and ethical foundations affect team members. Students 
who tend to dominate group discussion learn to restrain themselves, and passive students learn to 
take initiative. Several activities help increase self-awareness. After observing some team 
meetings in person and other meetings on videotape, a faculty facilitator leads discussions, 
replaying video clips so that students see themselves as others see them. Students write reflection 
papers, an activity that provides a concrete application of group dynamics principles that students 
studied in their organizational behavior course. Several times during the project, students 
evaluate their own and teammates’ contributions and write constructive criticism, which the 
faculty facilitator consolidates and shares with each student. The role of the faculty facilitator is 
critical to ensuring that the interaction remains positive, constructive, and supportive. 
 Students’ increased self-awareness also helps them make more informed personal 
decisions and helps them better manage their behavior (Boyatzis, 1994). This is particularly 
important in the multicultural, multinational team environment where members practice such 
skills as active listening, including withholding judgment. Students also learn to manage the use 
of humor; jokes, witty remarks, and friendly bantering are all culturally based and thus easy to 
misinterpret. 
 Discovering that decisions are not always made on rational bases. A third way that PBL 
projects enhance affective learning is to reveal that, contrary to what textbooks suggest, business 
 17 
decisions often are based on emotional as well as rational bases. Despite the emphasis on 
cognitive elements—careful analysis, thorough research, logical decision making—most of our 
PBL projects have included moments of revelation about the less-than-rational components of 
business decision making. 
 The two projects that involved historical preservation (Examples 5 and 6) included this 
element. Financial analysis alone often would lead to a decision not to renovate a historic 
building but to tear it down and use state-of-the-art construction methods and technologies in a 
new building. As students discussed the cultural values and architectural aesthetics of the 
buildings under consideration, they realized that intangible, as well as tangible, considerations go 
into wise decision making. 
 An even more striking example of the role of emotion in business decisions occurred in a 
project involving a wealthy individual who was considering developing a hotel complex 
(Example 1). Whether the hotel development made a profit was, in large part, unimportant to him 
given the extent of his wealth. Although he had a business purpose in mind for the development, 
his goals were not primarily financial. Thus, his decision criteria were not fully compatible with 
what students had learned in finance, marketing, and property-design courses. The internal rate 
of return—a critical decision element in most projects—was of interest but was not a major 
constraint. Some of the design decisions about the guest rooms were based not on consumer 
research but on the idiosyncratic preferences of the owner. As students talked to architects and 
developers of the project, they learned the extent to which decisions were based on multiple 
dimensions, some rational and some emotional. 
 Confronting unexpected ethical conundrums. A fourth way that PBL projects provide 
affective learning is to raise ethical issues, which often juxtapose human and commercial values. 
 18 
Many times, students discovered ethical conundrums or complex situations without solutions that 
would benefit all parties. 
 One striking example occurred in the New Orleans project (Example 7) in which owners 
of a convention hotel wondered whether to expand in anticipation of the major land-based 
casino’s opening. Competitors had announced expansion plans, and space was available 
immediately adjacent to the existing property. If the project was approved, the existing hotel 
would have to close for 6 months, and most employees would be laid off. Unemployment 
benefits were limited, and many low-wage employees and their families would suffer by losing 
their incomes and health insurance. When meeting with the human resources director, students 
asked whether the company could keep everyone on the payroll during the closing. The director 
explained that with no revenue coming in, it was not fiscally responsible because the 
management company had legal and ethical obligations both to the hotel owners and, as a public 
company, to its shareholders. 
 Complicating the situation, the company wanted the employees to return to work when 
the renovation was complete. At that point, the company would need experienced employees. 
Students were shocked by what seemed to be a cold-hearted layoff that demonstrated the 
company’s lack of loyalty to employees, combined with a campaign to persuade employees to be 
loyal to the company. Having talked with the line employees—housekeepers, maintenance 
people, cooks, desk clerks, and bell staff—students gained insight into the human dilemma, set in 
what at first appeared to be a straightforward business decision. 
 The situation provided the faculty with an unexpected educational opportunity. We 
prepared an assignment asking students to write the letter that the human resources director had 
told them he would send. In this letter, he needed to give notice of the layoff, required by law, 
 19 
and at the same time convince the employees to remain loyal to the company by returning to 
work when the hotel reopened. 
 Each project raised different sorts of ethical questions and revealed the human impact of 
business decisions. From these PBL projects, students gained empathy for others in a way that 
traditional courses could not provide. The affective learning not only complemented the 
cognitive learning but also helped students develop the implementation skills that managers 
need. 
 
Skills Development and Application in the PBL Project 
 Our PBL model (Figure 1) suggests that cognitive, affective, and behavioral outcomes are 
interrelated. By expanding cognitive learning through an analytical learning process, students 
gain knowledge of business concepts, principles, and methods. By expanding their affective 
learning through an interpretive process, students gain the sensitivities to consider multiple 
perspectives and the impact of various options on constituencies. The synergy of cognitive and 
affective learning forms a solid base for the development and informed application of 
implementation skills: the ability and wisdom required to put plans into action, to lead teams, to 
resolve conflict, to convince others to support ideas, to communicate with multiple stakeholders, 
and to follow through. The team tasks that arise from the problem are the catalysts that 
encourage students to develop these skills. 
 Discussing action learning, Raelin (1997) asserts that two types of knowledge are 
important: explicit and tacit. Explicit knowledge, emphasized in most educational settings, is 
knowing that something is true. Tacit knowledge, often difficult to teach, is knowing how to do 
 20 
something. Cognitive learning leads to explicit knowledge, whereas behavioral learning leads to 
tacit knowledge. But how are these types of knowledge connected in practice?  
 We assert that the consideration of affective sources through the interpretive learning 
process is the link. Knowing that (cognitive) a renovation decision should be based on financial 
analysis, combined with an awareness that (affective) factors such as employees’ values and 
beliefs will affect their perceptions, leads to knowing how (behavioral) to respond. Behaviors, or 
the skills of implementation, involve such tasks as collectively developing decision-making 
criteria, reaching a team decision that maximizes positive outcomes for as many constituencies 
as possible, and communicating the proposal effectively. At the end of the semester, each team 
writes a comprehensive report and gives a multimedia presentation to the clients and faculty, all 
of whom provide feedback and evaluation of the results. 
 An example of this linking function of affective learning occurred in the project 
involving a decision of whether to renovate and reposition a New Jersey hotel located in a 
business park near many corporate headquarters (Example 3). The hotel’s clientele consisted 
primarily of business travelers, many of whom stayed for weeks or months to attend nearby 
corporate training programs. By talking to these trainees, students gained insights into what it 
means to live for a long time in a hotel room. Most trainees were young, missed their families, 
and had grown tired of restaurant food. It is one thing to study in marketing class about the 
business traveler segment, but it is another thing to talk to business travelers and understand their 
perspectives. As part of this project, students also solicited the concerns of the line staff. Many 
were recent immigrants who commuted long distances, worked long hours, and earned low 
wages as they struggled to master a new language and support their extended families. The 
 21 
workforce included a number of maintenance workers who were deaf, but few managers had 
learned sign language to communicate with them more effectively. 
 Through these interactions, students were better able to propose how to position the hotel 
to appeal to its target market of business travelers as well as how to modify working conditions 
without excessive expense to meet the needs of its workforce and thus to reduce turnover. 
Students combined cognitive learning (e.g., knowledge of internal rate of return and other 
finance concepts) with affective learning (e.g., empathy with guests’ and employees’ needs) to 
enhance their behavioral outcomes (e.g., to create a persuasive proposal and communicate it 
effectively to the clients). As this example shows, the greatest benefit of the PBL approach is that 
the synergistic interplay of cognitive and affective learning, set in the context of a real-world 
problem, helps students develop implementation skills that they can apply throughout their 
careers. 
 
The Challenges of Assessment in PBL 
 Most educators are familiar with assessing cognitive learning through written 
examinations and other measures that test students’ knowledge. PBL’s extended focus on the 
affective and behavioral domains, however, requires a significant shift in the way student 
learning is assessed. In addition, PBL is an iterative process; there is continuous change as 
participants learn through their experiences and then apply that learning in subsequent project 
tasks (Bernstein et al., 1995; Vernon, 1995). This iterative process complicates the choices of 
time, place, and methods of assessment. Implementation of an effective PBL experience requires 
that educators focus on the challenges of assessment (Kazem & Cox, 1995). Therefore, this 
 22 
section addresses several concerns that educators interested in adopting the PBL method may 
want to consider. 
 
The Challenge of Assessing Affective Learning 
 Although we have made a case for the significance of affective learning, outcomes in this 
domain remain the most difficult to assess because sensitivities and attitudes are intangible. 
Learners’ diverse cultural backgrounds influence their interpersonal sensitivity and even the 
degree to which they recognize affective sources. Furthermore, students often do not 
immediately appreciate the extent to which they have increased their sensitivities or the multiple 
ways that this awareness improves decision making and leads to more effective and appropriate 
implementation strategies. Having become accustomed to measuring learning by grades on 
papers and examinations, students may not realize the extent of their affective learning until they 
have an opportunity to test themselves in the workplace. 
 Increases in students’ self-awareness and self-management, a central goal of PBL, are 
particularly difficult to assess. To address this issue, we ask students to reflect continuously on 
how their backgrounds, styles, and characteristics influence their own and others’ perceptions of 
their behavior. Insights gained through standardized self-assessments in the second-semester 
PBL project, for instance, help students better understand the behavior dynamics of their team. 
Continuous feedback, both from the faculty facilitator and teammates, provides further 
opportunities to check self-perceptions against the observations others provide. There are always 
a number of students, however, who resist such efforts. Regardless of the consistency in 
feedback from faculty, peers, and assessment instruments, some students reject all labeling of 
their behaviors or personal styles. Other students rely too much on standardized assessment 
 23 
profiles to justify team conflict as inevitable and insoluble because of team members’ inherent 
differences. 
 
The Challenge of Assessing Skills 
 Although faculty members are accustomed to setting high standards for cognitive 
learning within the context of their individual courses, skills-based behavioral learning, like 
affective learning, is more difficult to measure. With regard to skills-based learning, faculty must 
have a clear vision of what excellence looks like and must be able to distinguish high 
performance from simply accomplishing the task. In addition, philosophical and pedagogical 
issues come into question (McEnrue, 2002). For instance, will native and nonnative speakers of 
English be assessed using the same standards in oral and written communication? 
 An example of a skills-based assessment challenge in the PBL project concerns the most 
appropriate learning objectives for oral presentations delivered to clients and faculty. Should all 
team members participate to enhance their skills and highlight their contributions? Or should the 
goal be to impress the clients however possible, which might leave only the most accomplished 
speakers presenting the findings? For each scenario, what evaluation method is most accurate 
and fair? Educational goals sometimes conflict with the goal of making the project as real world 
as possible. 
 
The Need to Situate and Balance Assessment Opportunities 
 Two additional assessment challenges are readily apparent when PBL is introduced. The 
first concerns the degree to which student assessment can be situated in the PBL project itself 
rather than fragmented in individual courses offered concurrently during the project semester. 
 24 
Although cognitive assessment in our program occurs most frequently in separate courses, skills 
assessment is divided more evenly between courses and the project itself. The final written 
project report and its oral presentation to the clients require students to synthesize learning from 
all functional areas. Evaluated by both clients and faculty, these reports provide the basis for an 
integrated assessment of PBL outcomes. Feedback on interpersonal skills, provided by the 
faculty facilitator to each student and to each team, as well as the feedback each student receives 
from his or her teammates, is entirely situated in the PBL project. 
 Assessment must also be balanced between team and individual performance. In our 
situation, as described above, cognitive learning is assessed individually through tests, cases, and 
papers. Affective learning focuses on the individual student and is assessed primarily through 
team project activities. Skills-based learning is assessed for individuals in course assignments 
and for teams in the PBL project reports. However, students receive less individual assessments 
of their skills as demonstrated in the PBL project because the majority of the deliverables are 
team products. 
 
Conclusion 
 Despite the challenges of PBL, we believe that after nearly a decade of rethinking and 
refining our application of this educational approach, its advantages far outweigh its drawbacks. 
Responses from alumni surveys as well as the rate of graduates’ career advancement offer 
evidence that this approach provides substantial and sustained learning. Certainly, PBL 
consumes more faculty time, demands more resources, requires more coordination, and presents 
more assessment challenges than traditional methods. Yet as one early educator put it, history 
bears eloquent testimony to the fact that individuals who are dedicated to a compelling vision 
 25 
and who possess the essential character and competencies can shake the world (Weaver, 1959). 
Students who have learned to stand up and take responsibility, who have confronted dilemmas, 
and who have emerged weary but undefeated find that as business leaders, they too can shake the 
world. As management educators, what more could we hope to accomplish? 
  
 26 
References 
American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business. (1994). Achieving quality and 
continuous improvement through self-evaluation and peer review: Standards for 
accreditation business administration and accounting. St. Louis, MO: Author.  
Bernstein, P., Tipping, J., Bercovitz, K., & Skinner, H.A. (1995). Shifting students and faculty to 
a PBL curriculum: Attitudes changed and lessons learned. Academic Medicine, 70(3), 
245- 247.  
Boyatzis, R. E. (1994). Stimulating self-directed change: A required MBA course called 
managerial assessment and development. Journal of Management Education, 18(3), 304-
323.  
Boyatzis, R. E., Stubbs, E. C., & Taylor, S. N. (2002). Learning cognitive and emotional 
intelligence competencies through graduate management education. Academy of 
Management Learning and Education, 1(2), 150-162.  
Bridges, E., & Hallinger, P. (1997). Problem-based leadership development: Preparing 
educational leaders for changing times. Journal of School Leadership, 7(6), 592-608.  
Brownell, J., & Chung, B. (2001). The management development program: A competency-based 
model for preparing hospitality leaders. Journal of Management Education, 25(2), 124-
145.  
Chaharbaghi, K., & Cox, R. (1995). Problem-based learning: Potential and implementation 
issues. British Journal of Management, 6(4), 249-257.  
Clutterbuck, D. (2002). How teams learn. Training & Development Journal, 56(3), 67-69.  
 27 
Cockerill, S., Stewart, G., Hamilton, L., & Douglas, J. (1996). The intentional management of 
change: A problem-based learning/case study approach. Education & Training, 38(2), 
14-19.  
Conant, J. (1996). The manager’s view of management education and training. Review of Public 
Personnel Administration, 16(3), 23-33.  
Delafuente, J. C., Munyer, T. O., Angaran, D. M., & Doering, P. L. (1994). A problem solving 
active learning course in pharmacotherapy. American Journal of Pharmaceutical 
Education, 58(1), 61-64. 
Duch, B. J., Allen, D. E., & White, H. B., III. (1997). Problem-based learning: Preparing 
students for the 21st century. Teaching Excellence, 9(7), 1-2.  
Ettington, D., & Camp, R. (2002). Facilitating transfer of skills between group projects and work 
teams. Journal of Management Education, 26(4), 356-379.  
Gallagher, S. (1997). Problem-based learning: Where did it come from, what does it do, and 
where is it going? Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 20(4), 332-362.  
Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R. E., & McKee, A. (2002). Primal leadership: Realizing the power of 
emotional intelligence. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.  
Kazem, C., & Cox, R. (1995). Problem-based learning: Potential and implementation issues. 
British Journal of Management, 6(4), 249-257.  
Lewis, M., & Dehler, G. (2000). Learning through paradox: A pedagogical strategy for exploring 
contradictions and complexity. Journal of Management Education, 25(6), 708-725.  
Linder, J. C., & Smith, H. J. (1992). The complex case of management education. Harvard 
Business Review, 70(5), 16-33.  
 28 
Lohman, M. (2002). Cultivating problem solving skills through problems-based approaches to 
professional development. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 13(3), 243-261.  
Lohman, M., &Finkelstein, M. (2000). Designing groups in problem-based learning to promote 
problem-solving skill and self-directedness. Instructional Science, 28(4), 291-307. 
 Marsick, V. (1990). Experience-based learning: Executive learning outside the classroom. 
Journal of Management Development, 9(4), 50-60.  
Maudsley, G. (1999). Do we all mean the same thing by “problem-based learning”? A review of 
the concepts and a formulation of the ground rules. Academic Medicine, 74(2), 178-185. 
Mayer, R. (2002). Invited reaction: Cultivating problem-solving skills through problem-based 
approaches to professional development. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 
13(3), 263-269.  
McEnrue, M. P. (2002). Managerial skills teaching: Ten questions and twelve answers. Journal 
of Management Education, 26(5), 648-670.  
Milter, R. G., & Stinson, J. E. (1995). Educating leaders for the new competitive environment. In 
W. H. Gijselaers, D. T. Tempelaar, P. K. Keizer, J. M. Blommaert, E. M. Bernard, & H. 
Kasper (Eds.), Educational innovation in economics and business administration: The 
case of problem-based learning (pp. 30-38). Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Kluwer.  
Neelankavil, J. P. (1994). Corporate America’s quest for an ideal MBA. Journal of Management 
Development, 13(5), 38-53.  
Norman, G., & Schmidt, H. (1992). The psychological basis of problem-based learning: A 
review of the evidence. Academic Medicine, 67(9), 557-565.  
O’Neil, D., & Hopkins, M. (2002). The teacher as coach approach. Journal of Management 
Education, 26(4), 402-414.  
 29 
O’Reilly, B. (1994, January 24). Reengineering the MBA. Fortune, 129(2), 38-46.  
Porter, L., & McKibbin, L. (1988). Management education and development: Drift or thrust into 
the 21st century? New York: McGraw-Hill.  
Raelin, J. (1997). Individual and situational precursors of successful action learning. Journal of 
Management Education, 21(3), 368-394.  
Shanley, D. B., & Kelly, M. (1995). Why problem-based learning? Dublin, Ireland: Trinity 
School of Dental Sciences Press.  
Stepien, W., & Gallagher, S. (1993, April). Problem-based learning: As authentic as it gets. 
Educational Leadership, 50(7), 25-28.  
Stinson, J. E. (1990). Integrated contextual learning: Situated learning in the business profession 
(Report No. HE023523). East Lansing, MI: National Center for Research on Teacher 
Learning. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED319330) 
Stinson, J. E., & Milter, R.G. (1996). Problem-based learning in business education: Curriculum 
design and implementation issues. In L. Wilkerson & W.H. Gijselaers (Eds.), Bringing 
problem- based learning to higher education: Theory and practice (pp. 33-42). San 
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.  
Vernon, D. T. (1995). Attitudes and opinions of faculty tutors about problem-based learning. 
Academic Medicine, 70(3), 216-223.  
Watson, C., & Temkin, S. (2000). Just-in-time teaching: Balancing the competing demands of 
corporate America and academe in the delivery of management education. Journal of 
Management Education, 24(6), 763-778.  
Weaver, A.T. (1959). Seventeen who made history. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 45(2), 195-
199.  
 30 
Weick, K., & Van Ordern, R. (1990). Organizing on a global scale: A research and teaching 
agenda. Human Resource Management, 29(1), 49-61.  
Williams, R., Sewell, D., & Humphrey, E. (2002). Implementing problem-based learning in 
ambulatory care. Nursing Economics, 20(3), 135-141. 
  
 31 
Table 1. Examples of problem-based learning outcomes 
Cognitive Outcomes Behavioral Outcomes Affective Outcomes 
Increase Implementation Increase Awareness and 
Skills Sensitivities 
Increase Knowledge 
Understand rational decision- Collaborate with others to Recognize people’s 
making processes identify, define, and solve perceptual differences 
business problems 
Increase factual knowledge Interact effectively with all Increase ethical awareness 
types of people 
Know general principles of Conduct business research Acquire greater interpersonal 
business 
Identify those general  Apply analytical methods to  Increase awareness of impact 
principles that apply to business situations that behavior has on others 
specific problems 
Recognize those examples Deliver clear, organized Shift from self-orientation to 
acquired through problem-  written and oral reports other-orientation 
based learning that are 
relevant to future problems Influence others’ ideas, Recognize that not all 
opinions, and actions business decisions are 
purely rational 
 
  
 32 
 
Figure 1. Problem-Based Learning Model