Implementation of PBL: piecemeal or all the way?

The transformation from traditional teaching to student-centred learning is a widespread global phenomenon. Since the introduction of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) as the main didactic method at the new medical school of McMaster University in Canada about 40 years ago, many institutes in higher education have followed. At first PBL was mostly applied in new schools, starting fresh with the development of a completely new curriculum, like the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands and the University of Aalborg in Demark. In the mean time PBL has become quite popular as a method to involve students and to promote active learning in Engineering Education. Different institutions apply the PBL didactic principles in many different ways. What is more, implementation of PBL in an existing institute with standing traditions constitutes an altogether different challenge than building a new curriculum from scratch. In particular in institutes with a strong academic tradition the question often arises whether it is necessary to go all the way at once. The paper discusses advantages and disadvantages of a range of implementation strategies, based on an example from practice at TU Delft