Effect of using Problem-Based Learning on the Academic Achievement of Higher Secondary School Students

Article Information ABSTRACT Received: December 28, 2020 Revised: January 17, 2021 Accepted: January 21, 2021 Online: May 30, 2021 The Quasi-experimental study examines the effect of the Problem-based Learning (PBL) teaching strategy on the academic achievement of one higher secondary school student under Thimphu Thromde, Bhutan. The student participants were selected through non-probability convenient sampling techniques. All students of XI Arts (N=30) and XI Commerce (N=38) participated in the study. Class XI Arts students were used as a controlled group and XI Commerce students as an experimental group. The experimental group was taught using PBL, and the control group was taught using the traditional lecture method. The pre-test data were collected through class test 1, and post-test data were collected through class test 2 and 5 points Likert scale survey questionnaire. The results revealed that the experimental group scored higher marks in the class test than the control group. The XI Arts and XI Commerce (both controlled groups) were 40.75 and 38.81 initially. The mean score of the post-test of the experiment group showed 44.73, while the controlled group managed only 43.00. Further, the experimental group had a favorable opinion on the effectiveness of the PBL strategy. The study recommends the implementation of a PBL teaching strategy despite PBL being time-consuming and resource-intensive.


INTRODUCTION
The primary determinant of effective teaching-learning in the classroom is teachers' teaching strategy (Yadav, 2009). Teachers need to rely not on their past achievements or teaching strategies but practice innovative teaching strategies that promote constructive thinking. In the 21st century, teachers must make students confident, competent, and conscientious in a competitive future. If students are not adequately educated, a nation might face difficulty in attaining the national developmental goals and vision. Boris (2020, p.74) argues that a "teacher may profess to hold fifteen years' experience, but the experience means nothing if he keeps on repeating the same thing without bringing innovation into his teaching." The teaching-learning becomes effective if the curriculum is implemented correctly in the classroom with appropriate teaching strategies, instructional tools, and assessments. The teacher needs to practice strategies that motivate students and support the achievement of desired learning outcomes. According to the NCERT (n.d.), one of the main reasons for the poor performance of students in economics in higher secondary school is the lecture-based teaching strategy, which emphasizes more on giving information rather than learning. Lecture instruction does not promote cognitive learning skills, application abilities, and motivation to students; instead limits the scope for developing 1. Determine the PBL environment; The teacher should decide whether the entire or partial topic can be taught, and the decision taken by teachers depends on the ability and enthusiasm of students, the nature of the subject, and the availability of resources. 2. Focus on learning outcomes; It includes statistical tools -tables, graphs, data analysis, and transferable skills such as time management, independent learning, teamwork, decision making, problem-solving and communicating skills. 3. Determine the learning activities; Learning activities need to be associated with the task that enhances subject-specific skills and transferable skills. 4. The teacher will present the task and activities to students 5. The teacher set up proper mechanisms to facilitate students to lead, record, and monitor individual or groups 6. In the end, the teacher needs to assess the tasks or assignments.
Similarly, Bouhuijs and Gijselaers (1993) and other scholars suggested the following steps to create a PBL environment in the classroom: 1. Small group; Organize students into small groups of 6-8 members, and each group will work independently from other groups so that all students can participate in problem analysis. Small groups facilitate students to acquire knowledge, communication, problem-solving, teamwork, team spirit, sharing information, respect for others, and promoting independent learning. 2. Identify problems from the lesson; The teacher assigned an ill-structured, complex, realistic, and open-ended set of problems related to the lesson to foster flexible thinking. 3. First meeting; Discuss the problem for the first time to acquire the first impression or opinions of the problem. 4. Brainstorming; Brainstorming sessions for the groups to identify issues and essential information required to solve the problems. 5. Task or activities; Identify specific study tasks such as library research before meeting in the next class. While designing a study task teacher needs to: a. be aware of the learning activities and be consistent with the learning objectives or outcomes specified in the lesson. b. Examine the difficulties or challenges that students might arise in the process, including computer facilities, library resources, access to the internet, newspapers, research articles, textbooks, and other materials. c. Teachers will allocate tasks to individual group members. d. Ask all groups to select a group 'leader' and group 'recorder' responsible for leading the group ensuring all members participate in team discussions. The teacher will not interfere with the governance of group procedures. e. During any subsequent meetings, group members are expected to undertake the task allocated to the group. For example, the tasks might include (i) providing a summary and assessment of relevant magazines, journal articles, and newspaper clippings. (ii) Searching or browsing materials through the internet (iii) obtaining and tabulating relevant statistical information. f. The teacher will give sufficient time to facilitate research and ensure that all students participate actively in the discussion and provide constructive critique as and when required. g. Teachers should scaffold students learning through guiding and coaching with a questioning strategy. h. Finally, the teacher needs to ask for a formal presentation in the class or a written report and provide formative feedback to each group. If needed, the teacher can convert formative assessment into summative assessment or grade it into a continuous summative assessment.

The objective of the study
There is no definite study carried out in Bhutan to assess teaching strategy, and the study aimed to examine students' academic achievement using the PBL teaching strategy against the traditional lecture method.

Research Question
1. Do students taught using the PBL strategy score higher marks than the traditional lecturer method?

METHODS
The study adopts Quasi-experimental with pre-test and post-tests. The pre-test was done before implementing the intervention program to determine the student's academic ability. The Post-test was carried out after the intervention program to determine the effect it on the disciplines. Pre-test and posttest used the same instrument (class test 1 and class test 2 each with 20 marks). After post-test, the researcher also administered 5 points Likert scale survey questionnaire (5= Strongly Agree, 4= Agree, 3= Neutral, 2= Strongly Disagree, 1= Disagree) to examine the student's opinion experimental group towards the intervention program. The researcher randomly selected the experiment and controlled the group through the 'lucky dip' method. The researcher taught a module-poverty using PBL teaching strategy for the experiment group (XI Commerce), while the control group (XI Arts) was taught the same module using the traditional lecture method.

Population and sample
This study consisted of all class XI (Arts and Commerce) students of one higher secondary school under Thimphu Thromde, Bhutan. There were 30 students (19 girls and 11 boys) in XI Arts and 38 students (23 girls and 15 boys) in XI Commerce. Of the 38 students, 24 students (12 girls and 12 boys) in XI Arts had not taken economics in class IX and X. Similarly, out of 38 students, 23 students (17 girls and six boys) in XI Commerce had not taken economics in class IX and X. They were studying economics for the first time in class XI.

The instrument for data collection 1. Pre-test
The pre-test (class test 1) with a writing time of 45 minutes was conducted on April 24, 2019, as per the school academic policy. Six short questions were prepared from Unit 1 from the class XI economics syllabus with 20 marks. The 20 marks were later converted into 100 marks for more straightforward tabulation. The class test 1 response was graded and later convert to 2% for continuous internal assessment. The pre-test was conducted for the control and experimental group. After the pretest (class test 1), the experimental group (XI Commerce) was taught using PBL, while the traditional lecture method was used for the control group (XI Arts). XI Arts scored better during class test 1

Post-test
The post-test was conducted for both the controlled and experimental groups with identical paper. The pre-and post-test scores were compared to see the academic performance of the group before and after the implementation of the intervention program.
with the experiment group on the module poverty. Finally, the researcher formulated a few questions to form problems. 1. How is poverty defined? 2. How can we differentiate absolute poverty, relative poverty, subjective poverty, and poverty line? (c) o you think the way official documents identify a person affected by poverty is appropriate? 3. Examine the changes in the magnitude of poverty in Bhutan since 1960. 4. Do you think only the government has the responsibility to address poverty? 5. What are the steps we may have to take to alleviate poverty? 6. How can we, as responsible citizens can reduce poverty? 7. As a student, how will you overcome poverty?
The PBL was implemented after students have acquired basic knowledge of the subject and after teaching appropriate problem-solving strategies. The researcher made sure that the students have reached the level of intellectual maturity to reap the benefit of PBL. XI Commerce students were divided into six groups on a lucky dip basis consisting of 6 members in the first four groups and seven members in the last two groups. Each group was assigned the following questions: Group 1 1. Although poverty has been dramatically reduced in many parts of the world, countries such as Latin America, Africa, and South Asia are still characterized by acute poverty. How is poverty defined? 2. To better understand poverty and its solution, it is essential to have clear-cut information on the concept of poverty. Poverty is multidimensional. How can we differentiate 'absolute poverty, relative poverty, 'subjective poverty,' and 'poverty line'? Group 2 1. Do you think the way official documents identify a person affected by poverty is appropriate? Use real-life examples to argue the case. 2. Despite economic growth, massive poverty continues to exist in the country. How would you explain this phenomenon?

Group 3
1. Examine the changes in the magnitude of poverty in Bhutan since 1960. 2. What would happen to the government and the nation if there were no poverty across the country? Justify with five reasons.

Group 4
1. Do you think only the government has the responsibility to address poverty? Justify with five reasons. 2. Poverty is the cause of all evils in society. Explain with five reasons.

Group 5
1. What are the steps we may have to take to alleviate poverty in Bhutan? 2. Do you agree that measures taken by the government of Bhutan to control poverty are inadequate? If so, give other measures to control poverty.

Group 6
1. Poverty is a great curse. It needs to be removed not only on ethical and humanitarian considerations but also on economic grounds. How we, as responsible citizens can reduce poverty in Bhutan? 2. As a student, how will you overcome poverty in your small way?
To facilitate learning through exploration, the students were asked to explore all available information technology. The researcher informed students on the kind of books, magazines, journals, and resources needed on poverty to find the solutions for the problems. Groups started collecting information through multiple means (i.e., library, internet, etc.) and discussed the adequacy of materials to leap toward solutions to the problems posed by the researcher. Group recorders read and summarize the possible solutions. During the review, the researcher shared additional crucial points, if necessary,

IJAE Page 240
to supplement the solution proposed by the group. Finally, the groups, having incorporated the changes highlighted by the researcher, presented their findings in charts and PowerPoint slides.

The validity of the instrument
The pre-test, post-test, and 5 points Likert survey questionnaire was validated through peer review from teaching faculty to override biased interpretations.

Data Analysis
The pre-test and post-test data collected through class tests were analyzed using SPSS version 24. In addition, the data collected from the 5-point Likert scale survey questionnaire were analyzed using mean and standard deviation scores to determine the opinion towards the PBL intervention program.

RESULTS & DISCUSSION
There was no significant difference in class test mean scores in the control and experiment groups before the intervention program, as shown in Table 1. The mean score of the pre-test (class test 1) of the XI Arts and XI Commerce (both controlled groups) were 40.75 and 38.81. The mean score of the post-test (class test 2) of the XI Arts (controlled group) and XI Commerce (experiment group) were 43.00 and 44.73. Table 1 shows a slight increase in the test score of the experiment group (XI Commerce). There is a statistically significant rise in test scores in the post-test in comparison to the pre-test. The experimental group benefitted more than the control group due to the intervention program. The result is further supported by analysis of the 5 points Likert survey questionnaire as shown in Table 2.