Development of problem-solving skill by using active learning for student teachers in Introductory Physics

Abstract

This research was to study student teachers’ problem-solving skill after they took active learning Introductory Physics class in academic year 2017. There were 101 student teachers taking the course as a compulsory for 17 weeks. The one group pre-test and post-test design was used as quantitative research and also qualitative research. Twelve active learning activities were used throughout the whole semester. The IPST problem-solving assessment and rubrics were used to develop the research instrument to evaluate students’ problem-solving skills. The focus group interview was conducted to collect qualitative data on student teachers’ opinions of active learning activities. The paired-sample t-test was applied to compare problem-solving scores before and after they took in the class. The interview data, content analysis was used to summarise students’ opinions. The results indicated that their problem-solving skills were significantly higher after learning through active learning activities at .05 confident levels. Students’ opinions mostly reflected the positive feeling toward active learning activities and they recommended for other classes to use the same pedagogy.