Effect of STEM PBL on Student’s Engagement

Abstract

The objective of this study was to assess the current level of comprehension of Chemistry concepts among students in the B.S.Ed Honours programme, specifically in Class B.S.Ed. Additionally, the study sought to examine the impact of STEM Project-based learning on student engagement and academic performance in Chemistry, as compared to the traditional teaching method, within the same group of B.S.Ed students. It was an experimental study in which STEM PBL was compared with traditional technique. A cohort of 80 students was chosen from the Federal College of Education Islamabad in order to conduct an accomplishment test. The purpose of this test was to assess the current level of comprehension of topics in the field of Chemistry among students enrolled in the B.S.Edprogramme. The sample size for the investigation consisted of 80 participants. A total of 80 students were chosen, with 40 students assigned to the experimental group and the remaining 40 students assigned to the controls group. The students in the experimental group received instruction using STEM Project-based learning, whereas the students in the controlled group were taught using traditional methods. This instruction was provided over a period of four weeks. The Pre-Test and Post-Test assessments were administered to both the experimental and controls groups at the commencement and conclusion of the trial. A total of eight lesson plans were developed based on the direct instruction format, specifically derived from the Chemistry textbook, for the students enrolled in Class B.S.Ed. In order to assess the impact of STEM PBL on the academic performance of Class B.S.Ed students in the field of Chemistry, a statistical analysis was conducted to determine the significance of the difference between the average achievement scores of the experimental and controls groups. This analysis was carried out using a t-Test, with a significance threshold of 0.05.  The data analysis indicates that the current level of comprehension of Chemistry ideas among students in Class B.S.Ed. falls below 50 percent. The experimental group demonstrated a statistically significant higher score on the post-test compared to the controlled group, indicating the superiority of STEM Project-based learning over the traditional method.