The effect of the blended Problem-Based Learning method on the acquisition of content-specific knowledge in mechanical engineering
Problem-Based Learning (PBL) on its own has not been very successful in ensuring the learning of content-specific knowledge in engineering. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of blending PBL and conventional teaching methods on students' achievements in mechanical engineering...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Published: |
World Institute for Engineering and Technology Education
2007
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/1978/ |
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| Summary: | Problem-Based Learning (PBL) on its own has not been very successful in ensuring the learning of content-specific
knowledge in engineering. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of blending PBL and conventional teaching
methods on students' achievements in mechanical engineering. The quasi-experimental design method was used with two classes of
first year mechanical engineering students who registered for the Fluid Mechanics I course at Tun Hussein Onn University of
Malaysia in Johor Darul Takzim, Malaysia. The experimental group («=28) was prescribed the blended PBL method while the
control group (n=52) used the conventional method for completing group tasks. A pre-test and two post-tests on selected topics in
Fluid Mechanics / were administered to both groups before the study in weeks 4 and 11, respectively. The results showed that the
mean scores on the achievement tests of the blended PBL group was statistically significantly higher than the conventional group in
both instances (weeks 4 and 11) with the effect sizes ranging from 0.56 to 1.1. It was concluded that blended PBL is better at
developing content-specific knowledge compared to the conventional method. |
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