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Article Excerpt
This study examined the effect of a computer-enhanced problem-based learning (PBL) environment on middle school students' learning, investigating the relationship among students' self-efficacy, attitude toward science, and achievement. As Bandura defined it (1986), self-efficacy refers to the beliefs people have about whether or not they can successfully complete a task. From analyses of quantitative and qualitative data, findings indicated an increase in students' science achievement and self-efficacy for learning science after their engagement in a computer-enhanced PBL environment; however, no significant changes were seen in their attitude toward science. Students' attitude toward science and self-efficacy beliefs were positively related to each other. Self-efficacy was shown to be a statistically significant predictor of science achievement scores but attitude was not. In addition, when groups were formed based on a median split of attitude and self-efficacy scores, a significant interaction was found. Among students with low attitude, science achievement scores were significantly higher for the high self-efficacy than for the low self-efficacy group, while students in the high attitude group showed no difference in the achievement scores regardless of their self-efficacy grouping. Results suggested that students' self-efficacy towards science learning could be used to predict achievement.
Introduction
How middle school students approach science is of interest for two reasons. Early experiences with science can be expected to have an effect on the likelihood that students would pursue science in later grades. It may also be easier to ameliorate students' attitudes toward science and their self-efficacy beliefs (i.e. students' beliefs about completing a task successfully) when they are still in the early stages of exposure to science. In this study, we examined changes in middle school students' achievement, self-efficacy, and attitude toward science as a result of their participation in a computer-enhanced problem-based learning environment. Problem-based learning (PBL) exemplifies student-centered learning where students take responsibility for their own learning processes and build knowledge through their learning experiences (Cobb & Bowles, 1999). Although PBL has been shown to be effective in medical education and with college and gifted students, literature has indicated that implementing such complex and ill-structured learning environments in K-12 classrooms has been challenging. Additional support in the form of computer-based tools can enhance PBL delivery and extend the benefits of PBL to all students. A computer-enhanced PBL provides a new and different means for students to develop problem-solving skills, to reflect on their own learning, and to develop a deep understanding of the content domain (Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt, 1997). In this study, sixth-graders were engaged in a computer-enhanced PBL learning environment as part of their science curriculum. It was hypothesized that the students would exhibit a positive change in their science achievement, science self-efficacy beliefs, and attitude toward science after their participation in this environment. Literature on problem-based learning, self-efficacy, and attitude provided a basis for our investigation.
RESEARCH FRAMEWORK
Problem-Based Learning
Problem-based learning (PBL) is a learning process in which students are presented with a problem and are asked to apply reasoning, questioning, researching, and critical thinking to find a solution to the problem. It emphasizes solving complex problems in resource-rich contexts and aims at developing higher-order thinking skills (Savery & Duffy, 1995). The focus is not on the outcome but on the process by which students become self-reliant and independent. The essential characteristics of PBL include: (a) learning is student-centered; (b) authentic problems form the organizing focus for learning; (c) new information is acquired through self-directed learning; (d) learning occurs in small groups; and (e) teachers act as facilitators (Barrows, 1996).
Originally developed for medical education, its success in that setting has sparked the interest of educators in other fields. PBL has been shown to be more effective than traditional classroom instruction in providing opportunities for transferring knowledge and skills from the classroom to the workplace (Lunyk-Child, Crooks, Ellis, Ofosu, O'Mara, & Rideout, 2001; Stepien, Gallagher, & Workman, 1993). It results in better long-term content retention than traditional instruction (Norman & Schmidt, 1992) and supports the development of problem-solving skills (Gallagher, Stepien, & Rosenthal, 1994; Hmelo & Ferrari, 1997).
Most successful uses of PBL come from non-technology based settings involving college or gifted K-12 students. Educators interested in using PBL in their classrooms recognize the challenges of its implementation (Farnsworth, 1994). Such challenges include ineffective ways to present the central problem through oral or written means, large investment in time and effort to develop PBL units, initial discomfort with the methodology from learners and instructors, and the need for new forms of assessment (Farnsworth, 1994; Hoffman & Richie, 1997). Although challenges are being recognized, technology has been suggested as a means of addressing some of these challenges. Technology creates "new opportunities for curriculum and instruction by bringing real-world problems into the classroom for students to explore and solve" (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000, p. 195). Interactive video, for example, has been used to present students with real-life problems that require students to understand and apply important concepts in mathematics (Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt, 1997). Interactive and media rich computer tools can assist learners to generate and test hypotheses and can engage students in activities that would be out of their reach otherwise. Computers can enhance PBL delivery and provide necessary scaffolding to learners (Hoffman & Richie, 1997). Such suggested benefits of a computer-enhanced PBL environment on students' learning, however, need to be verified with research evidence.
Self-Efficacy and Achievement
Self-efficacy refers to people's beliefs about their capabilities to perform a task successfully at designated levels (Bandura, 1986, 1997). It is a construct different from the colloquial term confidence because confidence is used to describe the strength of a belief but it does not specify the content of the belief, so that one can be quite confident in being unsuccessful (Bandura, 1986, 1997). Also, the term self-efficacy is to be differentiated from notions of ability or capacity. In Bandura's conception of self-efficacy, the idea is that learners develop a sense of, or a belief about, how well they are likely to perform in a task. This sense of how well they will perform is separate from, though clearly tied to, their actual ability (Lane & Lane, 2001), and has been shown to influence performance. Self-efficacy is concerned not with the skills one has but the judgments of what one can do with whatever skills one possesses. According to Bandura (1986), "If self-efficacy is lacking, people tend to behave ineffectually, even though they know what to do" (p.425).
Motivation is enhanced when students perceive they are making progress in learning or feel they are capable of handling the task. In turn, as students work on tasks and become more skillful, they develop a sense of self-efficacy for performing well (Schunk, 1991). It has been suggested that one's perceived self-efficacy has a powerful...
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