The Role of Collaborative Learning and Problem-based Learning in Character Development: A Review

The purpose of higher education should focus on providing students opportunities to gain scientific knowledge of various disciplines and to improve skills, attitudes and right mindset that guide them to become successful professionals. Open and Distance Education provides flexible and open learning options for students to accomplish their educational goals. The use of diverse teaching-learning methods such as collaborative and problem-based learning may help students become 21st century learners who can apply their knowledge and skills to solve real world problems. The purpose of this review is to explore the role of collaborative and problem-based learning in Open and Distance Education in developing cognitive, social, emotional, decision making and problem-solving skills among learners. Particularly, it explores the benefits of both methods and how they help learners develop the kind of character necessary to succeed as professionals. A narrative review method was adopted in this study. The literature that examined how collaborative and problem-based learning affected the development of critical facets of learners’ behaviour, including cognitive, emotional, social, motivational skills and personality was chosen for the review. Thematic analysis was used to analyze data and to identify the key themes in the data related to the two approaches. It is evident that both approaches increase opportunities to develop learners’ cognitive, metacognitive, emotional, social and motivational skills necessary to succeed in their fields and maximize positive outcomes in social and professional settings. Accordingly, this will allow them to develop into mature professionals with well-rounded characters who can help communities grow.