Developing Facilitation Competence through Reflective Problem-Based Learning: A Qualitative Design-Based Case Study in Higher Education

<title>Abstract</title> <p>Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is increasingly used in higher education to support collaborative learning, reflective practice, communication, and critical inquiry. Despite its pedagogical strengths, collaborative learning environments frequently encounter challenges related to group dynamics, uneven participation, uncertainty, and facilitation competence, while also raising questions about how collaborative inquiry supports access to disciplinary knowledge. This study explores how educators develop facilitation competence through participation in a reflective PBL-based professional development course implemented across a consortium of Swedish higher education institutions. The study employed a qualitative design-based case study approach informed by sociocultural learning theory, group development theory, psychological safety, and the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyse reflective journals, facilitation logs, webinar discussions, peer feedback, collaborative group documentation, and facilitator observations. The findings indicate that facilitation competence develops through iterative cycles of participation, reflection, communication, and experiential engagement in collaborative group processes. Participants demonstrated increased awareness of group dynamics, psychological safety, reflective dialogue, and communicative facilitation practices. Reflection functioned simultaneously as a pedagogical strategy, a professional learning mechanism, and a source of analytical insight. The study introduces Educational Communication (EC) as a communicative and relational analytical lens and extends its conceptualisation by identifying an epistemic dimension concerned with maintaining attention to disciplinary knowledge within collaborative inquiry. The findings contribute to higher education research by proposing a transferable reflective model of facilitation development while identifying epistemic facilitation as an important area for future empirical investigation.</p>