Problem-Based Learning in European Public Affairs

the universiteit maastricht and the european institute for public administration, both located in maastricht, the netherlands, offer an english-language graduate program leading to the degree of master of arts in european public affairs (epa).the degree is designed as a program of professional education in european affairs.the challenge of professional education is to create a learning environment that integrates academic expertise with learning by doing.this article describes how the epa master’s degree uses problem-based learning as an educational methodology and describes the programs’s educational objectives and professional goals. Subsequently, the authors distinguish two different teaching methodologies—teacher- and studentcentered learning—and discuss problembased learning as a particular form of student-centered learning. The authors propose a form of problem-based learning suited for public affairs education based on project management techniques and briefly overview how the program has worked in practice.