Education has become more student centred. A main goal of institutions is to satisfy the needs of the students. Problem based learning is a student centred strategy taken by the institutions where students solve their problems or queries or puzzles based on authentic experiences. The aim is not necessarily to solve each problem but to get a deep understanding of it and figure out the ways of solving it. It is a method of building confidence in students. The seminar on the 19th June at UCLAN on problem based learning explored a lot. Currently the health sector is aware of PBL concepts. The conference concentrated on the SONIC and BRADTON projects. Carolyn Gibbon, the facilitator introduced the SONIC ( Students Online in Nursing Integrated Curricula ) project and ended up with the small discussion of extending it. SONIC points the users in right direction to identify the resources and scenarios,taking a blended learning approach. The main advantage is that the SONIC website is accessible to everyone andas a result they get hits from all over the world. The disadvantage is that they have an increase in the amount of spam when the website is accessible to all. The next session introduced us to the Bradton project which is currently between Blackboards and Webct. The process is almost similar to the SONIC project with the scenarios and resources being supplied and the patient journey are recorded using digital recorders.

Both projects found PBL does improve the attitude of the students and motivation towards learning. When these two factors are high there may be, more chance for any institution to achieve it’s goal.