PROMOTING BASIC COGNITIVE SKILLS THROUGH CONSTRUCTIVIST-BASED STRATEGIES IN A PHYSIOLOGY COURSE

Abstract

One of the main purposes of education today is to develop student’s ability to think in a systemic, analytical and logical manner to become self-directed, critical thinkers. Hence, students need to be efficient in one or more basic cognitive skills (BCS), since they are the foundational skills for the continued growth of these and other intellectual higher level abilities. According to constructivist theorists, the development of students’ deep conceptual understanding takes place when they are engaged in learning tasks that explicitly makes them aware of their BCS, based on students’ previous knowledge and matter content. From this perspective, teachers can promote BCS in the classroom through the design of constructivist-based strategies. Therefore, the main purpose of the present study was to examine how the BCS of analysis and synthesis are attained in a university physiology course, examining differences in two groups of students from different classes using different learning methods: problem-based learning (PBL) and PBL plus diagrams. A self-report questionnaire was designed for this purpose. A knowledge exam was also applied to both groups at the end of the intervention to evaluate students’ basic knowledge attainment. Results indicate that there were no significant differences between the two groups in their BCS acquisition. Exam scores were not different between groups either. However, a significant relationship between BCS and basic knowledge attainment was found. Results are discussed in more detail within the document. Key words: basic knowledge, cognitive skills, constructivism, problem based learning