Place-based problem-project learning in theory-intensive courses: a comparative case study in real estate education

Place-Based Problem-Project Learning (P3L) integrates place-based, problem-based, and project-based pedagogies under a single constraint: the same place must supply the problem, bound the inquiry, and receive the deliverable. We examine two undergraduate real estate courses at Kangwon National University, South Korea, drawing on reflection journals, course records, and university-wide programme evaluation data. Three findings emerge. First, integration level is a design parameter to be matched to student readiness: the fully integrated model was associated with deeper engagement but left more students disoriented, while the hybrid model offered a lower-threshold entry point for self-regulated learning (SRL). Second, SRL emerge only where scaffolding was deliberately built in, though the cases cannot isolate which components carried the effect. Third, both implementations secured location and locale, but only constitutive engagement – where stakeholder interaction shapes the intellectual substance of student work – appeared to support sense of place, alongside stronger motivation and place attachment. Cross-case synthesis yields five transferable design principles spanning problem definition, scaffolding, assessment alignment, feedback distribution, and community partnership design. The findings support engaged pedagogies in theory-intensive social science courses and indicate what regional university initiatives would need to count to recognise the contribution of such courses.