The Contributors

Oon-Seng Tan , PhD, FSEDA(UK), is Associate Professor and Head of Psychological Studies at the National Institute of Education, Singapore. He is President of the Educational Research Association of Singapore and Vice-President (Asia and Pacific Rim) of the International Association for Cognitive Education and Psychology. While serving as Director of the Temasek Centre for Problem-based Learning, he won an Innovator Award from the Enterprise Challenge Unit of the Prime Minister’s Office of Singapore. His current research is on cognitive psychology in problem-based learning (PBL) contexts.

Anura Ariyawardana , BDS, MS, is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Oral Medicine, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. A clinician and a clinical researcher in oral medicine, Anura is actively involved in oral cancer prevention in Sri Lanka. He was a course director of the international Internet PBL program “Habit and Disease” coordinated by the Medical Education Development Center of Gifu University.

Sharon J. Derry , PhD, is Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In recent projects, she and her team have created conceptual frameworks and learning environments grounded in the learning sciences to support the professional development of STEM teachers. Sharon has received local and national awards for distinction in research.

Phillip Evans , MEd, MSc, is Curriculum Development Officer at the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, University of Edinburgh, where he introduced PBL into the MBChB program. He jointly initiated the award-winning Edinburgh Electronic Medical Curriculum (Eemec) and is now pioneering a multimedia e-learning master’s program in clinical education. Phillip is the coordinator of the Scottish Doctor project and provides consultancy internationally. He has been a visiting professor to Hirosaki University and the Medical Education Development Center of Gifu University.

Alex Fung is Professor and Head of the Department of Education Studies, Director of the School Administration and Management System Training and Research Unit, and Chairman of the University Web-based Teaching and Learning Taskforce at Hong Kong Baptist University. He is also Honorary Advisor to the South East Asian Ministers of Education Organization Secretariat. He previously chaired the Working Group 3.7 on Information Technology in Educational Management of the International Federation for Information Processing. Alex was named Laureate by the Computer World Honors Program for developing VITLE.

Douglas Gentile , a developmental psychologist, is Assistant Professor of Psychology at Iowa State University and Director of Research for the National Institute on Media and the Family. One of America’s leading media effects researchers, Douglas conducts studies on the positive and negative effects of media on children and adults, including advertising, educational television, and video games.

Barbara Grabowski , PhD, is Associate Professor of Education in the Instructional Systems Program at Pennsylvania State University and Principal Investigator of two major NASA-funded research projects. Her prior experience with a distance delivery program and as a designer of multimedia materials drives her research on learning with technology. She has been recognized by the International University Continuing Education Association for the programs she has developed, and she received an outstanding book award for Individual Differences and Instruction (with Jonassen).

Cindy Hmelo-Silver , PhD, is Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Her research interests include PBL, knowledge construction, collaborative learning, and software-based scaffolding. Her achievements include the Best Paper by a New Investigator from the American Educational Research Association, an NSF Early CAREER award, and a National Academy of Education postdoctoral fellowship. She is the associate editor of the Journal of Research in Science Teaching.

David Hung is Head of the Learning Sciences and Technologies Academic Group and Associate Dean of Learning Sciences at the National Institute of Education, Singapore. His primary responsibilities include promoting the learning sciences both locally and internationally, advancing technology research in constructivist forms of learning, and translating research outcomes into curriculum-related programs. His research interests include communities of practice as well as learning theories and design.

Tjaart Imbos , PhD, is Associate Professor and Senior Lecturer at the School of Health Sciences, Maastricht University, specializing in statistics education and research. He designs innovative statistics education programs and is a member of the International Association of Statistics Education. The use of technology in education is a special interest of his.

David Jonassen , PhD, is Distinguished Professor of Education at the University of Missouri, where he teaches in the areas of learning technologies and educational psychology. He has taught at various other institutions and provided consultancy around the world. David has published on text design, task analysis, instructional design, computer-based learning, hypermedia, constructivist learning, cognitive tools, and technology in learning. His current research focuses on problem solving.

Chirasak Khamboonruang , MD, PhD, was Professor in the Department of Parasitology and Director of the Research Institute for Health Sciences, Chiang Mai University, Thailand, before his retirement. While at the Medical Education Development Center of Gifu University as a visiting professor, he served as a course director of the first international Internet PBL program “HIV Infection and AIDS.” He is presently Senior Project Consultant to the Prime-Boost HIV Vaccine Phase III Trial Project conducted by the Ministry of Public Health of Thailand.

Angeline Khoo , PhD, is a tenured staff member of the National Institute of Education, Singapore. Her research interests include social identity and self-categorization, delinquency, prosocial behavior, Internet safety issues, and effects of digital games. She previously chaired the education subcommittee of the Parents Advisory Group for the internet (PAGi). Currently, she serves on the Film Consultative Panel and the Community Advisory Committee of the National Internet Advisory Committee.

Andre Koehorst , MPsych, is Senior Educational Developer at the University Library of Maastricht University. His work focuses on the development and innovation of courses and curricula. His main interest is the effective design of active learning supported by technology. Among the computer programs that he has designed and developed are a virtual learning environment for PBL, a web-based system for patient management problems, and the collaborative learning tool POLARIS.

Paul Lam , PhD, is Research Assistant Professor in the Centre for Learning Enhancement and Research, Chinese University of Hong Kong. He has extensive experience in English-language teaching at the school level, and this experience has been projects in Hong Kong universities. Paul’s current focus is on the design, development, and evaluation of web-assisted teaching and learning.

Jenilyn Ledesma is Research Project Manager of the School Administration and Management System Training and Research Unit, Hong Kong Baptist University, and Research Associate in the Faculty of Education, Chinese University of Hong Kong. She has extensive expertise in research and best practice development in learning and teaching across a wide range of educational contexts. Her current research is on English-language assessment at K-9 and its implications for language training needs and professional development.

Chee Kit Looi is Associate Professor and Head of the Learning Sciences Lab, National Institute of Education, Singapore. He was the principal investigator and key designer of several educational technology systems in his past stints in government-funded research institutes. Chee Kit is an executive committee member of the International AI and Education Society and regional editor of the Journal of CAL. His research interests include computer-supported collaborative environments and technology-enabled mathematics learning.

Carmel McNaught , PhD, is Director and Professor of Learning Enhancement in the Centre for Learning Enhancement and Research, Chinese University of Hong Kong. She has had three decades of experience in teaching and research in higher education in Australasia, southern Africa, and Britain. Her research interest is in the use of technology and innovation in higher education.

Masayuki Niwa , PhD, is Associate Professor at the Medical Education Development Center, Gifu University School of Medicine. He is a council member of the Japanese Society for Medical Education, Japanese Society of Pharmacology, Japanese Society of Clinical Pharmacology, and Japanese Society of Inflammation and Regeneration. His current research in the area of medical education is on web-based PBL.

Jutti C. Ramesh , MS, MCh, FRCSI, is Professor and Dean of Clinical School, International Medical University, Malaysia. A pediatric surgeon, Jutti’s special interests in the area of medical education include task-based learning for clinical students, portfolio as a learning tool, and standards setting for OSCE. He was visiting professor to the Medical Education Development Center of Gifu University, where he participated in its international Internet PBL program.

Frans Ronteltap , PhD, is Associate Professor in the Resource Centre of Educational Innovation, University of Maastricht. He was previously Director of the Learning Lab, a center for learning design research. The pedagogical aspects of quality assurance in e-learning are a prominent part of his present work.

Toshiyuki Shibata , DDS, PhD, is Head and Professor of Oral Maxillofacial Surgery, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine. He is a council member of the Japanese Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons and the Japanese Stomatological Society. He was a course director of the international Internet PBL program “Habit and Disease.” His current research focuses on the molecular analysis and the treatment of oral cancer and diseases.

Pasi Silander , MSc, is Senior Researcher at the Digital Learning Lab of Hame Polytechnic University of Applied Sciences and at the University of Joensuu, Finland. With a background in computer science and learning psychology, Pasi lectures and conducts research in the area of web-based education and also develops educational software. His research interest is the effects of educational technology on students’ learning processes.

Hae-Deok Song , PhD, is Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Theory and Practice, State University of New York at Albany, and has a joint appointment with the College of Computing and Information. His work focuses on the design of technology-rich problem-solving and PBL environments with particular attention on supporting motivation, reflection, and collaboration.

Yasuyuki Suzuki , MD, PhD, is Professor and Director of the Medical Education Development Center, Gifu University School of Medicine. He is a council member of the Japanese Society for Medical Education, Japanese Society of Human Genetics, and Japanese Society of Inborn Error of Metabolism. His current research is on web-based PBL, curriculum development, and genetic counseling.

Yuzo Takahashi , MD, PhD, is Head and Professor of Parasitology at Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine. He is a council member of the Japanese Society for Medical Education and the Japanese Society of Parasitology. His current research focuses on medical robotics, virtual patients for medical education, high-resolution three-dimensional animation of the human body, and the molecular pathology of Trichinella infection.

Seng Chee Tan , PhD, is Associate Professor and Deputy Head of the Learning Sciences and Technologies Academic Group, National Institute of Education, and Assistant Director in the Educational Technology Division, Ministry of Education, Singapore. He has led several ministry-funded research studies on science education and computer-supported collaborative learning. Seng Chee’s current research focuses on introducing knowledge building and PBL to schools.

Jennifer Yeo , MA(IDT), is pursuing a doctorate at the National Institute of Education, Singapore. She had previously taught secondary school physics and was active in the development of technology tools for science learning. She taught instructional technology at the institute while pursuing a master’s degree. Jennifer’s main research interests are PBL, knowledge building, students’ discourse in both computer-supported collaborative learning and classroom environments, and science learning.