Pbl Research Paper

ABSTRACT…

1. Teacher perceptions of PBL

Ravitz (2010) says “no two teachers implement PjBL the same way”, which means that teachers may perceive PBL in many different ways, depending on various factors. However, empirical studies that focused on teacher perceptions of PBL report that teachers carried positive pedagogical beliefs about PBL (Harrigan, p. 72, Suha, p. 94). They perceived PBL as a teaching model, where teachers saw themselves as facilitators (Baysura, p. 22, Harrigan, p. 69) and their students had an active role in it (Suha, p. 94). According to another study regarding in-service teachers’ perceptions of PBL, Habok describes PBL as a tool that will still have teachers playing the leading role in the classroom (p. 13).

Researchers

Benefits of using PBL

There are many benefits of using PBL reported by researchers. The most important ones mentioned in major studies regarding PBL are an improved academic achievement, increased engagement, greater understanding of the content, collaboration, skill development, work with diverse learners and outreach.

1.1.1. Improved academic achievement

It is crucial for students to have a deep understanding of the topic. Several research studies report that PBL fosters students’ better understanding of the subject content through the practice (Intro, Bell, 2010, Baumgartner & Zabin, Bas, 2011, Larmer & Mergendoller, Van den Berg, Krajcik). Students with greater understanding of the subject matter should probably have higher knowledge gains. Moreover, one of the most important indicators of students’ success in the classroom is their academic performance. Researchers provide findings regarding the impact of PBL on the growth of academic achievement. Margaret Holm in her article provides a view of research studies conducted between 2000-2011 years regarding the effectiveness of PBL in preschool, elementary and secondary school classroom settings. All studies indicate at the positive attitudes of students towards PBL and demonstrate the growth in academic achievement after using

PBL students showed significantly higher grades than students in another school and were better in answering the conceptual problems (Bell, 2010). In Dubuque, Iowa, three elementary schools that used PBL in two years showed dramatic gains in academic achievement. The results of the Iowa Basic Skills Test were related to almost every area. In Boston, eighth-grade students had a significant increase in Academic reading. Similarly, in Portland, Maine, students of a middle school showed improvement in academic performance in six curriculum areas only after one year using PBL in the period of 1995-1996 (Thomas, 2000). Moreover, according to a study conducted by University of Memphis researchers, Co-nect schools in the period of 1996-1998 years showed very high gains in academic achievement in all subject areas (Thomas, 2000). Barak and Dory (2003) comparing two groups of undergraduate chemistry students at the HE in Israel, found that PBL students showed better results than non-PBL students in their final post-test examinations. On the other hand, Frank, Lavy, and Elata (2003) believed that PBL was more beneficial for weaker students in terms of academic achievement improvement.

Baumgartner and Zabin believe that PBL helps students gain skills and knowledge through experience. In this light, DiEnno and Hilton (2005) state that students