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Home ⇛ ang pantas ⇛ vol. 1 no. 1 (2009), developing problem solving skills among filipino students.
Eduardo O. Dela Cruz Jr.
Discipline: Education
This paper revealed how mathematical abilities, especially problem solving skills, among Filipino students can be developed. It presented organizations/associations that continuously help harness creativity in mathematics learning and teaching. Factors that contribute to understanding math better were also presented. Block Model Approach was introduced as a problem solving technique but encouraged the teachers’ use of other techniques in the improvement of the said mathematics competencies.
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Problem-Based Learning Strategies and Critical Thinking Skills Among Pre-Service Teachers
Mathematical underachievement among students was not only a source of concern in the Philippines, but has now spread throughout the world. Low critical thinking skill among Filipino students is one of the causes contributing to the country’s poor performance in mathematics. Students’ lack of critical thinking abilities may be due to teachers’ knowledge and expertise. To explore the critical thinking skills of pre-service teachers through the use of problem-based learning strategies is the main objective of the study. Quasi-experimental with a counterbalanced design was employed, presenting two problem-based learning strategies namely authentic strategy and non-linear strategy to two groups of teacher candidates. The results showed that students’ critical thinking skills in evaluating arguments and drawing conclusions are lacking. There is also a substantial difference in critical thinking skills between students in groups 1 and 2, except for the capacity to recognize assumptions. The pre-service teachers’ critical thinking skills do not differ significantly by sequence. The study results indicated that the pre-service teachers’ critical thinking skills were still low, particularly in terms of evaluating arguments and drawing conclusions due to inadequate background knowledge and lack of in-depth understanding of the mathematics concepts. The results imply that schools focus more on building strategies to improve and develop students’ critical thinking skills in mathematics education. Moreover, the study suggests that further research develop successful techniques for planning effective initiatives to increase critical thinking teaching and learning in higher education and training programs that could help improve the students’ critical thinking skills.
Keywords: Problem-Based Learning Strategy, Authentic Strategy, Non-linear Strategy, Critical thinking skills
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Volume 2 Issue 2
Patricia Nicole F. Benedicto & Rose R. Andrade
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Benedicto, P.F. & Andrade, R.R. (2022). Problem-Based Learning Strategies and Critical Thinking Skills Among Pre-Service Teachers. International Journal of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, Volume 2 Issue 2, pp. 1 - 28. DOI: https://doi.org/10.53378/352885
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PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING APPROACH ENHANCES THE PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS IN CHEMISTRY OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
1 College of Arts and Sciences, Nueva Vizcaya State University, Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya (Philippines) 2 College of Teacher Education, Quirino State University, Diffun, Quirino (Philippines)
Received December 201 8
Accepted March 201 9
The study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of problem-based learning (PBL) approach in enhancing the problem solving skills in Chemistry of Grade 9 students in a public high school in the Philippines. The level of problem solving skills of the students in the non-PBL and PBL group before and after their exposure to non-PBL and PBL approaches was determined respectively. The comparison of their levels before and after the intervention was done to determine the effectiveness of the non-PBL and PBL approaches. Then comparison of the effectiveness of non-PBL and PBL approach was assessed. Using the descriptive-comparative and pretest-posttest experimental design in processing the data from 96 students, the following revelations were obtained: (1) the level of problem solving skills before and after their exposure to non-PBL approach is generally very low; (2) the level of problem solving skills was initially very low but was comparatively increased to low after exposure to PBL; (3) there was a significant difference in the level of problem solving skills of the students in the PBL group; (4) between these two approaches in this study, the PBL approach of teaching the chemistry concepts to Grade 9 students was proven more effective than the non-PBL approach.
Keywords – P roblem-based learning, P roblem solving skill, P edagogy, C hemistry education
To cite this article:
1. I ntroduction
It has always been the goal of every educational system to develop an individual who has the ability to think and process the knowledge acquired from the process of teaching and learning. These ideas and knowledge learned must be applied efficiently in the society. For the past decades, the status of Philippine Educational system has faced several challenges. It has undergone several reforms to be more appropriate to the present demands of the nation and the world in general, by reflecting the current vision of the content, classroom management, methods of teaching and support necessary to provide quality science education to students (Hofstein, 2005).
One of the areas of concern in education is the method used in the teaching-learning process. During the learning process in class, teachers should recognize the way students think in order to help them construct their understanding and for them to create rich and meaningful interactions in the classroom. This will help the teacher ensure that transmission of knowledge will certainly take place (Mamlok-Naama , Hofstein & Taitelbaum, 2012). Teacher’s use of methods or strategies must also be dynamic to answer the needs of varied learners. This was supported by Minstrell and Stimpson (2000) and Mamlok-Naama et al. (2012), when they claimed that teachers should change their teaching strategies and adopt new strategies to make the teaching and learning process better.
Science teachers at present are facing great challenges in teaching chemistry as a subject. They have an indispensable responsibility of ensuring that students achieve the learning competencies desired for each specific topic in the subject. As students face challenges in mastering these competencies expected of them, teachers too are expected to face challenges in teaching. If teachers do not understand their learners’ needs, then their instructional approaches will be a hit or a miss (Davis, 2006). Strategies must then be carefully chosen to fit the needs, interest, motivation and characteristics of the learners. A good teacher’s approach to teaching and learning contributes more likely to higher quality learning outcomes. Therefore, it is important that teachers should carefully select the appropriate tools and strategies in delivering their lessons. These should fit the type of learners they have and it should improve and enhance the teaching-learning process (Lynch, Kuipers, Pyke & Szesze, 2001; Schroeder , Linderman & Choo, 2007 ). In addition, Zimmerman (2002) emphasizes that the strategy, tool or approach should teach students to become responsible learners and will make them realize that learning is an activity for themselves in a proactive way rather than a covert event despite their differences in learning styles.
After several encounters with pedagogies of teaching, an approach that would possibly provide solution on the ehancement of students’ performance in the subject was identified. It is hypothesized that problem-based learning approach in learning will give positive results in the pursuit of elevating the performance of the students. With problem-based learning, it is believed that problem solving skills of the students will be enhanced. These skills will not only be applicable to science subjects but also in other subject areas and most importantly, in real life. They will also acquire skills that will help them in their interaction with the dynamic community or the society in general where they dwell. Problem solving is a strategy in “posing significant, contextualized, real world situations and providing sources, guidance and instruction to learners as they develop content knowledge and problem-solving skills” (Killen, 2007). It can be used as a part of a lesson, a theme of several lessons or as a structure of a substantial part of the curriculum – also known as problem-based learning or PBL. PISA or Program for International Student Assessment defines problem-solving as an individual’s capability to participate in intellectual processing to comprehend and resolve problem situations where a method of solution is not directly apparent. It embraces the readiness to participate with such situations in order to achieve one’s potential as a productive and reflective citizen (Macdonald, 2014).
Problem-based learning (PBL) in its most highly developed form is an approach to curriculum design and implementation rather than teaching strategy or method. This approach to teaching and learning was first applied and utilized in the field of medicine. When it was proven effective to medical students, several attempts were made to apply it in another field like teaching (Bransford, 2015). A PBL curriculum is designed around a comprehensive, real and complex problems that provide learners with opportunities to acquire the knowledge, understanding and skills that are defined by the curriculum outcomes. In its deepest sense, the problem is the curriculum which is the stimulus for each aspect of student’s independent learning. The use of problem solving is based on the premise that sustained exposure with appropriate set of problems will help learners to acquire a substantial knowledge base, deepen their understanding of important concepts and principles, and develop skills (problem-solving skills and interpersonal skills) that are relevant to their future careers (Killen, 2007).
Chemistry learners must be good problem solvers. Problem solving is a dynamic, confusing process which is often annoying among students but the process can be rewarding. Students must learn to explore problems and understand that committing errors is as significant as knowing the correct answers or solutions. During the process, students must be perceptive so that they will realize if they are going farther or closer to the solution of the problem (Society Committee on Education, 2012). It is a necessary mandate of any educational system to enhance and develop the problem solving skills of students in order for them to be globally competitive. These skills of students can be enhanced if they are exposed to problem based learning approach wherein they encounter real life problems that require them to identify the problem, gather data for the problem, provide plausible solutions and finally decide on which of those solutions will effectively solve the problem (Dolmans, De Grave, Wolfhagen & Van Der Vleuten, 2005).
While PBL has been proven effective in studies mentioned, its application in many high schools in the Philippines has not been as popular as traditional lecture with problem-solving activities. The problem‑based learning matrix introduced as an enhancement or introduced strategy to the usual set-up of the public high school might develop further the problem solving skills of students. Thus, the purpose of the study was to determine the effectiveness of problem-based learning using a developed problem-based learning matrix in enhancing the level of problem solving skills of Grade 9 students in a public high school in Philippines.
2. Methodology
2.1. Model of Research
The study utilized the descriptive-comparative research and pretest-posttest experimental designs. The descriptive part of the research involved the profiling of the student and determining their levels of problem solving skills. The comparative part involved the comparison of their levels during the pre- and post-test. The experimental part of the study involved the students’ performance in chemistry after exposure to problem based-learning approach. Qualitative and quantitative approaches were utilized in determining the level of problem solving skills of students. Quantitative analysis was used to determine any difference between the pretest and posttest means of the experimental and the control groups.
2.2. Implementation
The study was conducted to four randomly selected classes of Grade 9 Integrated Science students of a public high school in the Philippines under the Revised Basic Education Curriculum for the school year 2015 – 2016. There were two classes for the non-PBL group. These consist of 50 students with 24 males and 26 females. These sections are heterogeneous and handled by another teacher. The PBL group also has two classes which consist of a total of 46 students, 14 males and 32 females. Students had their classes 240 minutes a week (4 sessions per week) and 60 minutes per session.
The research tools used were the (1) Problem-Based Learning Matrix which contained the desired learning competencies for the different learning topics, learning activities and assessment that were delivered and administered to the students during the duration of the research study. This learning plan/matrix was validated by experts (2) Problem-Based Learning Teacher’s Guide which consisted of semi-detailed lesson plans in every lesson in each module. This served as a guide for the teacher to deliver the lesson to the learners with PBL approach successfully, (3) PBL Learning Material which was a learner’s module developed by the researchers. It comprised four modules covering the four major topics of Grade 9 units for chemistry. Each module covers several lessons that expose students to thought‑provoking problems and require students to determine their goals/objectives, provide plausible solutions and decide critically on the best solution to solve the problem and attain their identified objectives, (4) Problem Solving Skill Test (PSST) was an open-ended test for assessing the level of problem solving skills of the learners. Students were asked to solve a set of 10 problems under sufficient amount of time. An adapted rubric from NCRESST was used in assessing the level of problem solving skills of students (Patrick, Cragnolini, Smith, Worsfold & Webb , 2016). The items in the problem solving test were also validated by experts. The rubric used the 0-4 levels. The table below shows the equivalence of the levels.
Table 1. Level of Problem Solving Skills
After the research and control groups have been selected, a pre-test for problem solving skill was administered to the PBL and non-PBL group. The results of the test were gathered and analyzed to determine the initial students’ level of problem solving skills. Students in the PBL group were taught using the problem-based learning approach while the students in the non-PBL group were taught using the traditional learning approach as prescribed by the K-12 learning material (Learning Modules/Learning Guides). In the PBL based learning has the following main parts. First is the mini-lecture. At this initial stage, the researcher provided a short lecture regarding the topic. This served as a way to actively engage the students to the lesson. The introduction of the Problem Scenario followed immediately. The students, working as a group of 5 to 6 members, were given a problem scenario which was related to the topic at hand. Each member of the groups was given a copy of the problem. They were given sufficient time to discuss, organize their thought and solve the problem. Moreover, all of them were allowed to use all the available resources provided inside the learning environment in order to propose a plausible solution and supported by their logical reasons. The PBL method ended with the abstraction part. After stimulating a brain storming activity among the groups, their ideas were presented to the other groups. The researcher encouraged the students to accept new knowledge, correct the previous hypothesis if deemed necessary. The various groups presented their answers and were rated according to the rubric. The research took 40 class hours (10 weeks) in total.
Post-tests with 10 open-ended problem scenarios were administered to the students of PBL and non-PBL group after all the identified topics in Chemistry for Grade 9 were taught using the identified teaching and learning approaches. The results of the post-tests were the basis for identification of the levels of problem solving skills of students after their exposure to the two identified teaching approaches.
2.3. Preparation, Implementation and Evaluation of the Problem Solving Skill Test (PSST)
At the beginning a 15 open ended questions were prepared by the researcher in accordance to the desired learning competencies of grade 9 students under the Revised Basic Education Curriculum of the K to 12 Program of the Department of Education. The general subject matters include: a) Electronic Structure of the Atom, b) Chemical Bonding c) Carbon Compounds and d) The Mole Concept. The prepared material was assessed by three experts in the field of chemistry - a professor in a reputable university and two chemistry teachers. After the assessment of the material and based on the recommendations of the experts the open ended questions were reduced to 10.
Table 2. The topics included in the problem scenarios used in the problem-solving task
2.4. Data Collection and Assessment
SPSS version 16 was used in the treatment of data. For the profile of the respondents, both the descriptive and quantitative statistics were used (frequency and percent). The significant difference of the level of problem solving skills in their pre-test and post-test performances was determined using t-test for dependent samples. To determine the significant difference of the level of problem solving skills of students exposed to PBL and non-PBL approach, T-test for independent samples was used.
Normalized average gain and effect sizes were used to determine the effectiveness of learning approaches implemented in this study. The effect sizes of the applied methods were interpreted based on Glass’ delta calculations of t-test values. The Glass’ delta values for effect size was processed using the Effect Size Calculator for T-test of Social Science Statistics ( https://www.socscistatistics.com/effectsize/default3.aspx ). Generally, the approaches effect sizes can be interpreted as low (d < 0.2), medium (0.20 < d ≤ 0.80) and high (d > 0.80). Effective approaches have effect sizes that fall within medium and high. The percent normalized average gain, Gain(%) was calculated using Hake’s Gain Formula:
where: Gain(%) is the percent gain scores of the students, %postscore is the percentage of posttest score and %prescore is the percentage of the pretest scores.
The Gain (%) was interpreted as low (20 % and below), moderate (21 % to 70 %) and high (71 % and above). Effectiveness of intervention has a Gain(%) that falls within moderate and high (Hake, 1998; 2007).
2.5. Results and Discussion
According to Quadros , Da Silva, Silva, De Andrade, Aleme, Tristao et al. (2011), chemistry is considered as a core science subject that permeates several areas of knowledge. Moreover, this is one of the components of the science curriculum that promotes intellectual development of the students, through various activities for students to understand nature and its transformation. Thus, clear understanding of the concepts provides opportunities for students to understand the world from a ‘chemical’ point of view. Society Committee on Education (2012) also stipulates that chemistry learners must be good problem solvers. Therefore, it is necessary that students’ skills in problem solving be enhanced during chemistry instruction (Goodwin, 2001).
2.6. Non-Problem Based Learning Approach
In the problem solving skill test, students were given 10 real-life situations to answer in their pre-test and post-test. The result of their pre-and-post-test is revealed in Table 3 . The table shows the level of their responses in the pre-test and post-test of their problem solving skills test.
You were instructed to help him make a general statement for the trend in the electronegativity in terms of atomic number.
Situation 7
Your brother came home late one evening from a birthday party. He was drunk, his face was flushed and he was perspiring profusely. You know that he could be quite irritable. This had already happened several times in the past. As a member of the family and one who knows about the psychological effects of alcohol, what will you advise to your brother to lessen his drinking habits?
Situation 8
Your mother needs to buy her medicine in a drug store. When she was there she came across two drugs specified to have the same chemical formula and approved by the Bureau of Food and Drugs. One drug has a well-known brand name while the other was manufactured by another company and sells at a lower price. What will you advice to help your mother decide?
Situation 9
Joe accidentally dropped some iron filings into a salt solution. With no idea on how to separate the iron filings from the mixture, he then asked you to suggest ways that could help him separate the filings.
Situation 10
“A miner in Runruno, Quezon, found a nugget that has a gold color. He realized that it could be a precious gold metal or pyrite, which is a compound of iron and sulfur called fool’s gold. The nugget has a mass of 16.5 g and displaced 3.3 mL of water. From this information, can you tell the miner that he found a real gold or not? What will you tell him to solve his problem?”
Note: 3.5 – 4.0 = “very high”, 2.5 = 3.49 = “high”, 1.5 - 2.49 = “average”, 0.50 – 1.49 = “low”, 0 – 0.49 = “very low”
Table 3 . The Level of Problem Solving skills of the Non-PBL Group in the Items of the Problem Solving Skill Test
Among the 10 problems presented during the pre-test, answers of the students in Situation 1 exhibited the highest mean of 0.52 (low). Moreover, answers of students in Situation 9 surfaced the lowest mean of 0.01 (very low).
Table 4 presents the level of problem solving skills before and after they were taught using the non-PBL approach of teaching chemistry concepts in Science 9.
Table 4 . Level of Problem Solving Skills of the Non-PBL Group before and after Exposure to Non-PBL Approach
It can be gleaned from the table that students of the non-PBL group have very low problem solving skills (mean = 0.23, SD=0.13) before they were exposed to non-PBL approach of teaching. Most (92% of the total 46 students) of the students have very low level of problem solving skills while few (8%) students have low level of problem solving skills.
After exposure to non-PBL approach in learning chemistry concepts, the number of student in the low level slightly increased (28%) while the number of students in the very low level slightly decreased (72%). However, the level of problem solving skills of non-PBL group still remained at low level with a mean of 0.40 (SD = 0.16). This implies that the approach used in teaching did not have a remarkable effect in increasing the student’s level of problem solving skills. In addition to this, there could be limited opportunities for students to develop and enhance this skill. A related study was conducted by Hasna (2004) and found out that the problem solving skills of the students were not fully enhanced by just using the traditional way of teaching and eventually suggested another approach – the PBL approach.
The level of problem solving skill of the Grade 9 students in the non-PBL group during their pre-test was compared to their level during the post-test. Using paired sample t-test analysis, the significant difference of their problem solving skills during their pre-and post-test is determined as shown in Table 5 .
Table 5 . Paired Sample t-test Analysis (Pre-and-Post-tests) of the Problem Solving Skills of the Non-PBL Group
Table 5 shows that there is a significant difference in the pre-and-post-test levels of problem solving skills of the non-PBL students after their exposure to non-PBL approach of learning chemistry. The post-test mean level (0.40) difference of 0.17 over the pre-test mean level (0.23) indicates that the non-PBL approach of teaching chemistry concepts among the students in the non-PBL group significantly helped in enhancing their level of problem solving skills.
2.7. Problem-Based Learning Approach
During the pre-test and post-test of students’ problem solving skills, they were given the same 10 situations/problems to answer as in the non-PBL group (Table 3 ). Their responses were evaluated and the result is presented in Table 6 .
.Table 6 shows that Grade 9 students under the PBL group generally exhibited very low level of problem solving skills during the pre-test of the problem solving skill test which surfaced a mean of 0.31. Among the 10 situations given during the pre-test, responses of students showed highest level of problem solving skills in Situation 1 with a mean of 0.75 (low). The responses of the students in Situations 3 and 6 exhibit the lowest level with a mean of 0.04 (very low). The very low level of problem solving skills of students in the PBL group prior to their exposure to PBL approach suggests that their skills in problem solving are not yet enhanced.
Table 6 . The Level of Problem Solving Skills of the PBL Group in the Items of the Problem Solving Skill Test
The level of problem solving skills of students under the PBL group before and after they were taught using the PBL approach is presented in Table 7.
Table 7 . Level of Problem Solving Skills of the PBL Group before and after Exposure to PBL Approach
As gleaned from Table 7 , the level of problem solving skills of students under the PBL group before they were exposed to PBL approach of learning the concepts of chemistry was very low (76.10% ) and few (23.90%) of the students showed low level of problem solving skills. Generally, the PBL group has very low level of problem solving skills with average mean level of 0.32 with SD=0.21 during the pre-test. None among the students exhibited higher level of problem solving skills.
Moreover, the level of problem solving skills during the post-test after they were exposed to PBL approach of learning chemistry concepts was low as indicated by an average mean level of 0.79 with standard deviation of 0.31. Specifically, most (76.10%) of the students displayed low level of problem solving skills and few (23.90%) of them showed very low level. It has to be noted that the number of students in the low level comparatively increased (76.10%) after they were exposed to PBL. On the other hand, the higher number of students in the very low level comparatively decreased (23.90%) during the post test. This implies that the intervention made provided a positive effect in developing and enhancing the problem solving skills of the students. These results agree with the findings of Dochy, Segers, den Bossche and Gijbels (2003) that students who were exposed to PBL have immediate and lasting problem solving skills. White (2001) also said that PBL not only improves the skills of the students but also makes students realize the connections of the concepts when they learn facts and skills as they actively work on the information rather than passively receive it. In addition, there are evidences that PBL effectively develops reasoning skills and problem solving skills and enhances self-directed learning (Hmelo-Silver,2004).
The significant difference of level of problem solving skills of students under the PBL group before and after they were taught was determined using paired sample T-test analysis. The results are shown in Table 8 .
Table 8 . Paired Sample t-test Analysis (Pre-and-Post tests) of the Problem Solving Skills of the PBL Group
As gleaned from table, there is significant difference in the pre-and-post test results of level of problem solving skills of the PBL group of Grade 9 students. The post-test mean level (0.79) difference of 0.47 over the pre-test mean level (0.32) indicates that the PBL approach used in teaching the PBL group of Grade 9 students significantly helped in elevating their level of problem solving skills. This is supported by the results of the studies which clearly specified that PBL efficiently develops the problem solving skills and reasoning skills of students (Antepohl & Herzig, 1999; Hmelo-Silver, Duncan & Chin, 2007; Hmelo‑Silver, 2004). Moreover, students in the PBL group may have developed their judgement skills in choosing the best solution for the identified problem. But it has to be noted that the mean level is still low and this might be affected by the type, characteristics and attitude towards problem situations of students present within the group (Mergendoller, Maxwell & Bellisimo, 2006).
2.8. Comparison of the PBL and Non-PBL Group
Data analysis on the gain scores of students in the PBL and non-PBL group depending on their raw scores obtained from PSST is presented in Table 9 .
Table 9 . Percent Gain of Problem Solving Skills of PBL and Non-PBL Group
The gain scores are derived from the average pre-test and post-test scores of students from the assessment tool. It should be noted that the students were grouped in heterogeneous classes. At the start (during pretest), the students grouped in the PBL have higher percentage belonging to the higher level of problem solving skills as shown in Table 4 than in the non-PBL group shown in Table 7 . A significant number of students (52%) in the PBL group upgraded to a higher level, as compared to only 20% in the non-PBL group. This higher percent gain by the PBL group may be justified by the fact that most of them have already a higher problem solving skill at the start compared to the non-PBL group. However, based on the results shown in Table 9 , although there is an increase in the scores of the students, the learning gain for problem solving skill in the non-PBL group (4%) and PBL group (11%) are still both classified as “low” based on the description of Hake (2007). This may be attributed to the learning environment, to the characteristic and behavior of learners and their readiness and the length of implementation of the program (Albanese, 2000; Hmelo-Silver, 2004; Lim, 2013). Furthermore, class interruptions during the implementation and the teacher’s proficiency in implementing the approach to the students may also be factors to the low problem solving skills of the students.
Using the gain scores of students obtained from their raw scores in PSST, the significant difference in their initial level (during the pre-test) of problem solving skill from their final level (during the post-test) was determined using t-test for independent samples. The results are given in Table 10 .
Table 10 . Comparison of the Gain Scores on the Level of Problem Solving Skill of PBL and Non-PBL Groups
According to the data presented, the level of problem solving skill of students in the PBL group is significantly different (t = 2.52, p <0.005) from the non-PBL group. The PBL mean (11.15) difference of 6.97 over the non-PBL (4.18) indicates that the level of problem solving skills under the PBL group is better than those in the non-PBL group. The high problem solving skill of the PBL group is attributed to the training they have during the teaching learning process. These students were generally exposed to real‑world problems, and as they solve these problems, their thinking, judgment and decision making skills were enhanced.
To determine the effect of the PBL and non-PBL approaches applied to PBL and non-PBL group respectively on the problem solving skill of the students, their scores in the PSST were used as the measure. Data gathered from this assessment is presented in Table 1 1 .
Table 1 1 . Pre- and Post-test Mean Values Obtained from Problem Solving Skill Test, t-test Results and Effect Size Scores as “Glass’ – delta” from Each Group
It can be seen that the effect size of PBL approach applied to Grade 9 students under PBL group is higher than the effect size of non-PBL approach applied to non-PBL group. It is apparent that the effect of PBL applied to the students in the PBL group is at a high level ( d = 2.10 ). The effect size of non-PBL is also at a high level (d = 0.85) (Irven & Corlu, 2011). These results suggest that PBL approach appears to be more effective than the non-PBL approach in enhancing the problem solving skill of students in the PBL group.
3. Conclusion
With the findings of the study, it was proven that the problem-based learning approach used in the study has been effective in enhancing the problem solving skills of the students. Moreover, Problem-based based learning is more effective than non-problem based learning in enhancing the level of problem solving skills of students.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
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Journal of Technology and Science Education, 2011-2023
Online ISSN: 2013-6374; Print ISSN: 2014-5349; DL: B-2000-2012
Publisher: OmniaScience
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Problem-Solving Performance and Skills of Prospective Elementary Teachers in Northern Philippines
The study determined the problem-solving performance and skills of prospective elementary teachers (PETs) in the Northern Philippines. Specifically, it defined the PETs’ level of problem-solving performance in number sense, measurement, geometry, algebra, and probability; significant predictors of their problem-solving performance in terms of sex, socio-economic status, parents’ educational attainment, high school graduated from and subject preference; and their problem-solving skills. The PETs’ problem-solving performance was determined by a problem set consisting of word problems with number sense, measurement, geometry, algebra, and probability. A mixed-method research design was employed. Senior PETs purposively served as a sample where they mostly preferred to teach other subjects than mathematics. PETs who preferred math performed satisfactorily, while prospective teachers who opted for other subjects performed unsatisfactorily. The PETs’ unsatisfactory output indicates the need for remediation to advance the mathematical material skills and enrich the problem-solving abilities of these primary schools' potential teachers. Besides, results showed that subject preference strongly affected and predicted the problem-solving success of the PETs. PETs who preferred to teach mathematics performed significantly better than their counterparts; hence, mathematics as a field of specialization in the Bachelor of Elementary Education program may be considered by teacher education institutions. Further, most PETs displayed lack of problem-solving skills; thus, a Problem-Solving course is recommended for them.
Keywords: elementary education, prospective elementary teachers (PETs), mathematics, problem-solving, teacher education institutions
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When multiplying or dividing different bases with the same exponent, combine the bases, and keep the exponent the same. For example, X raised to the third power times Y raised to the third power becomes the product of X times Y raised to th...
Personal skills can be described as personality and behavioral traits that determine how people act in a workplace context, including how they manage themselves, perform their work and interact with coworkers and management.
The problem-solving skills of elementary teachers serve a major role in improving young Filipino learners' performance in mathematics and the quality of
Among other subjects, it pointed out that. Filipino students have not reached mastery in mathematics. For a country like the Philippines where mathematics has
There's really a need to enhance our curriculum because when compared with other countries, the Philippines is almost far at the bottom in terms of educational
This paper revealed how mathematical abilities, especially problem solving skills, among Filipino students can be developed.
An important objective in teaching mathematics is to develop students' mathematical problem-solving skills. The researcher, a Mathematics Coordinator, considers
Low critical thinking skill among Filipino students is one of the causes contributing to the country's poor performance in mathematics. Students
Philippine education system, Filipino students' level of.
The level of problem solving skills of the students in the non-PBL and PBL group before and after their exposure to non-PBL and PBL approaches was determined
The study determined the problem-solving performance and skills of prospective elementary teachers (PETs) in the Northern Philippines.
PDF | Abstract: The study determined the problem-solving performance and skills of prospective elementary teachers (PETs) in the Northern Philippines.
This research draws a theoretical framework that underpins the mathematical problems solving heuristics among Filipino high school students