Promoting Religious Moderation through Multicultural Problem-Based Learning: A Study in Elementary Education

Fraction concepts represent one of the most challenging mathematical domains in elementary education, with persistent international difficulties in student comprehension despite their fundamental importance for advanced mathematical proficiency. Traditional instructional methods emphasizing rote memorization have consistently demonstrated limitations in fostering deep conceptual understanding. This study investigated the effectiveness of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) in enhancing elementary students' fraction understanding compared to conventional teaching approaches. A quasi-experimental design with non-equivalent control groups was employed, involving 38 elementary students from nine schools. The experimental group (n=16) received PBL instruction featuring authentic, real-world fraction problems requiring collaborative solution strategies, while the control group (n=22) participated in traditional direct instruction. Data collection utilized pre-test and post-test assessments measuring conceptual and procedural fraction understanding, structured classroom observations documenting engagement and learning behaviors, and student feedback questionnaires capturing motivation and confidence levels. The experimental group demonstrated substantial improvement with a mean increase of 33.25 points (Cohen's d = 3.47), while the control group showed minimal gains (7.78 points, Cohen's d = 0.91). Paired-sample t-tests confirmed statistically significant differences (p < 0.001) favoring the experimental group. Qualitative analysis revealed enhanced collaborative learning, mathematical discourse, and problem-solving confidence among PBL participants. Student motivation scores were significantly higher in the experimental group (M = 4.31 vs. 3.18). Results provide robust empirical evidence supporting PBL's superiority over traditional methods for fraction instruction. The findings validate constructivist learning principles and demonstrate that authentic problem-solving contexts facilitate deeper conceptual understanding, multiple representational thinking, and sustained student engagement, addressing persistent challenges in elementary mathematics education.

Partner of this international collaboration of community service is Konstanz University of Applied Sciences in Germany, Prof. Dr. Christian von Lübke, to be invited to collaborate in giving socialization about educational entrepreneurship for elementary school teachers in the province of Jakarta Indonesia. The target of this community service is elementary school teachers in the Province of Jakarta Indonesia. The socialization of educational entrepreneurship for elementary school teachers was done to develop entrepreneurship competences of elementary school teachers in the Province of Jakarta Indonesia, the solution undertaken was socialization of educational entrepreneurship. The methods used in conducting this international collaboration of community service were cooperative learning, problem-based learning, and giving assignments. This socialization was conducted through video conferences in the form of learning activities to improve the competence in educational entrepreneurship for elementary school teachers in the province of Jakarta Indonesia. The socialization of educational entrepreneurship given is related to developing entrepreneurial interest with appropriate learning activity programs. This international collaboration of community service was conducted at elementary schools in the Province of Jakarta Indonesia because those elementary schools are regularly empowered by Universitas Negeri Jakarta. Based on evaluation measurement, teachers’ interest in entrepreneurship education reached 86,75 % and the average satisfaction level of participants were 94%.

To equip students with 21st-century skills, teachers must have both deep STEM content knowledge and the confidence to implement and teach appropriate STEM content. Many elementary teachers have inadequate STEM background knowledge, low confidence, and STEM self-efficacy for implementing STEM in the classroom; as a result, teachers' classroom practices are affected. The study examined how elementary teachers perceive their ability to implement STEM in the classroom. The STEM Efficacy Survey was sent to a randomized pool of 100 elementary educators, and 18 of them agreed to participate in the study. This instrument was designed to elicit responses related to the teachers' previous background in STEM, their beliefs about their ability to implement STEM, and their actual STEM implementation in the elementary classroom. The results revealed that participants were confident in their understanding of the engineering design process and problem-based learning. However, teachers were unwilling to apply the engineering design process in the classroom. From this research, the researchers concluded that higher levels of training in STEM education may influence how teachers perceive their ability to implement STEM in the classroom. Further research should focus on exploring how STEM training affects teachers' self-efficacy in STEM implementation.

Problem Based Learning with jigsaw model is a learning system which requiresstudents to collaborate with friends in a group to solve complex problems relating to the acquisition of knowledge.The principle of Problem Based Learning is self-regulated learning which is focusing on students (Students centered) and no longer focused on the teacher. This system is expected to be able to increase student’s motivation and achievement. Students are able to explorethe material by their own methods. This research was basically wanted to see the application of PBL with jigsaw method. This study was experimental research with a one-group posttest or after only a one-group design. This design involved a given group manipulations. This design was used because it was not possibleto randomize the subjects and divided them into the control group and the experimental group. This research was carried out for 3 months in one class. The results showed that the learning outcomes through PBL which measured with effectiveness of PBL scalewas considered less effective by students. They felttroubled with other students who did not have the motivation to learn. In this case, a preliminary study is a must; to determine the characteristics of students. The study also suggested that it is necessary to use PBL since elementary education. Keywords: Problem-based learning, Students centered, one-group posttest design, effectiveness of PBL scale

General Background: Enhancing literacy and motivation in elementary education is a persistent priority in improving student learning outcomes. Specific Background: Problem-Based Learning (PBL), especially when integrated with multimedia resources like learning videos, has shown potential in fostering active engagement and comprehension. Knowledge Gap: However, empirical evidence remains limited regarding the simultaneous effects of PBL models aided by video on both reading comprehension and motivation among elementary students. Aims: This study investigates the effect of the PBL learning model assisted by learning videos on the reading comprehension skills and learning motivation of fourth-grade students in Cluster II, Mariso District. Results: Using a quasi-experimental nonequivalent multiple-group design with 56 students, results showed an improvement in reading comprehension from a pretest mean of 62.14 to a posttest mean of 78.21, and in learning motivation from 80.96 to 88.29. MANOVA analysis revealed a significant simultaneous effect (sig = 0.00 < 0.05). Novelty: This research demonstrates the dual effectiveness of video-assisted PBL not just on cognitive outcomes but also on affective dimensions. Implications: Findings highlight the potential of integrated multimedia-PBL strategies in enhancing educational quality in elementary schools. Highlights: Demonstrates PBL's impact on both comprehension and motivation. Uses video-assisted instruction in a real classroom setting. Shows significant results through MANOVA statistical analysis. Keywords: Problem-Based Learning, Reading Comprehension, Learning Motivation, Learning Videos, Elementary Education

Background: The ability to solve problems is an essential 21st-century skill but remains limited in elementary science learning. Specific Background: At SDN 127/II Sungai Arang, students demonstrated difficulty in understanding science concepts, low participation, and low mastery of learning outcomes. Knowledge Gap: Conventional teaching methods were teacher-centered and failed to provide opportunities for students to actively explore solutions to real-world problems. Aim: This research aimed to describe how Problem-Based Learning (PBL) can improve the learning process, students’ problem-solving skills, and their science learning achievements. Results: This classroom action research was conducted in two cycles involving 19 students. Teacher activity scores improved from 64%–72% in Cycle I to 80%–92% in Cycle II. Student engagement rose from 57.89% to 89.48%, and learning mastery increased from 63.16% to 84.21%. Novelty: The study demonstrates the practical application of PBL in a resource-limited school setting, highlighting its potential to transform passive learning into an interactive experience. Implications: Findings suggest that PBL can serve as a model for curriculum development and teacher training to foster active learning and problem-solving culture in elementary education. Highlights: Students’ participation and confidence in solving problems increased in Cycle II. Teacher performance improved, shifting towards more student-centered facilitation. Learning mastery rose significantly after PBL implementation. Keywords: Active Learning, Problem-Based Learning, Problem-Solving Skills, Social and Natural Sciences, Elementary Education

This study examined how facets of elementary teachers' pedagogical content knowledge are “engaged in practice” in the context of Problem-Based Learning (PBL). A secondary objective was to identify challenges teachers experienced during the development and implementation of PBL learning experiences. Collaborative Inquiry (Bray, Lee, Smith, & Yorks, 2000), a participatory, action-based inquiry approach was used as a means to develop and implement PBL. Outcomes report on how teachers developed and engaged various facets of their pedagogical content knowledge, including orientations to teaching science, and knowledge of and beliefs about curriculum, student learning, instruction, and assessment.

This study aims to explore pedagogical approaches and students’ engagement during STEM teaching. As many as 215 elementary school teachers in West Java were involved in this research. Those involved consisted of 161 women and 49 men. The majority of teachers have an elementary school teacher education background (87%), 7% have other educational backgrounds (Science Education/Mathematics Education/Social Education/Language Education), and the remaining 6% are in the sciences. The instrument used in this study was a closed questionnaire with 20 items from a Likert scale survey. The results of the study show that 50% of elementary school teachers very rarely use experimental approaches and problem-based learning when teaching STEM content. More than 60% of teachers also very rarely use the inquiry approach in teaching the four contents. The approach that is often used by teachers in teaching STEM is a collaborative and integrated approach. In addition, the survey results also show that more than 50% of students are very rarely involved in inquiry and engineering practice activities when learning about STEM content. The analysis of professional development needs showed that the majority of elementary school teachers have never received a professional development program regarding STEM education. In fact, the majority of teachers have a positive attitude towards the coaching program, which has an impact on increasing their competence. Apart from that, the results of this research also show that there is a lack of external support (from universities, educational practitioners, and researchers) for teachers in coaching programs. These findings provide evidence that teachers still need to receive training on pedagogical approaches that are relevant to integrated STEM education. The existence of training on STEM education is expected to improve the quality of STEM learning in the classroom. Thus, students' involvement in scientific and engineering practice when learning STEM becomes more dominant.

이 연구의 목적은 학교 현장에서 문제중심학습을 적용할 수 있는 초등 교사들의 교수 실행의 능력과 교육 환경을 알아보기 위한 것이다. 참가자들은 초등학교 수준에서 문제중심학습을 강의하는 강사로 활동중이었다. 초등학교 교사 3인이 연구에 참여하였으며, 자료는 반구조화된 면담을 통해 획득되었다. 문제중심학습과 관련된 교사들의 면담은 두 가지 주요 주제로 나누어 분석되었다. (1) 문제중심학습에서 요구되는 교사들의 교수 실행의 능력 (2) 문제중심학습을 적용할 수 있는 교육 환경. 연구 결과는 다음과 같다. 첫째, 문제중심학습은 전통적인 교수학습 방법보다 수업 준비와 교수 과정에 어려움이 있었다. 그러나 문제중심학습에서 교사들은 자율적이고 허용적인 학습 분위기 속에서 학생들이 자기 주도적인 학습을 할 수 있도록 안내하는 도우미로서 행동한다는 점에서, 학생들은 잠재능력을 효과적으로 계발할 수 있는 동기를 부여받는다. 이를 위하여 교사는 문제중심학습 전체에서 효과적인 학습 활동이 이루어질 수 있도록 끊임없는 노력과 시간을 투자해야 한다. 둘째, 문제중심학습을 적용할 수 있는 교육적 환경을 위하여, 교사들은 동료교사, 학생, 학부모, 교육 행정가들의 문제중심학습에 대한 인식의 확산과 교사들의 커뮤니티 형성해야 한다. 문제중심 학습의 확산을 위해 가장 중요한 것은 교사들이 직접적으로 교수 활동에 문제중심학습을 적용해 보는 것이다. 문제중심 학습을 하면 학생들의 변화가 나타날 것이고, 이러한 효과를 경험한 교사는 교수학습과정에 문제중심학습을 채택하게 될 것이다. The purpose of this study was to find out inservice teachers' teaching skills and relevant educational settings that could be applied to an instruction of problem-based learning (PBL). Participants have been instructed PBL teacher training programs and applied PBL into teaching and learning process. Three elementary teachers were selected to participate in the study, and data were collected with semi-structured interviews. The interviews of the teachers in relation to PBL were analyzed by two main topics: (1) the teachers' teaching skills required in PBL and (2) the educational settings in implementing PBL. The results are as follows: First, there is a difficulty involved in the implementation of PBL in that its preparation and teaching process are different from the traditional teaching methodology. However, as a helper who guides the students to self-directed learning in the free and permissible learning environment in which students are motivated to develop their potential effectively, the teachers are to invest their time consistently and to put their efforts into making an effective class in the entire process of PBL. Second, as a method to apply the problem-based learning to the education settings, the teachers must spread the awareness of PBL to fellow teachers, students, their parents and the administrators in education and form the community of the teachers. Most importantly, when the teachers apply PBL in the directly, from the joy of witnessing the changes in the students, they will choose to adopt PBL.

Engineering the Path to Higher-Order Thinking in Elementary Education: A Problem-Based Learning Approach for STEM Integration

In answering the call of the American Association for the Ad-vancement of Science (1990) that “science should be taughtas science is practiced at is best,” science faculty across thecountry have systematically begun to infuse their skills, per-spectives, and experiences as scientists into the instructionalapproaches they select for their undergraduate classrooms.Problem-based learning (PBL), which diffused into under-graduate science instruction from the medical school settingover 10 years ago, is one of those approaches. Use of PBL inthe undergraduate setting has steadily grown in popularityover the past decade (Samford University, PBL Initiative), atleastinpartbecauseitsinquiry-drivennatureandunderlyingphilosophies resonate with these comments from the recentBoyer Commission Report (1998) on undergraduate educa-tion at research universities:

This study aims to determine whether using a digital problem-based learning strategy improves the problem-solving skills of prospective elementary school teacher education students. The research is quantitative and uses a quasi-experimental design. This study implemented a nonequivalent control group design. This study included 66 students divided into two groups: an experimental class using the digital problem-based learning model and a control class using the problem-based learning model. Data were collected using pretest and posttest instruments in both courses before and after the therapy, as well as a questionnaire to assess the attractiveness of learning using the DPBL learning paradigm. The N-gain technique was used to examine the effectiveness of the DPBL model on the problem-solving abilities of prospective elementary school teacher students. The results show an N-gain value of 0.69, which is quite effective when interpreted using N-gain criteria. This means that the digital problem-based learning model can help improve the problem-solving skills of prospective elementary school teacher education students.

This study aims to identify the benefits acquired by third-year pre-service elementary school teachers participating in a problem-based learning process in social studies education, the issues they encountered in that process and those they are likely to encounter, and their feelings about the process. Semi-structured interviews were used as one of the qualitative research methods. During the 2014 to 2015 academic year, problem situations related to the subjects of “Historical Values” and “Being a Child in Africa” were studied for five weeks through problem-based learning in the social studies education course. At the end of the process, 16 pre-service teachers with perfect attendance and active participation were interviewed. The interviews were recorded on tape recorders. The obtained data were analyzed via content analysis. The results indicate that problem-based learning (PBL) offers positive reflections/benefits to pre-service elementary school teachers in terms of learning, democracy education, and skills acquisition in social studies education classes. Although one participant considered the course unproductive, the pre-service teachers mostly had positive opinions regarding the problem-based learning process. Key words: Problem-based learning (PBL), benefits, issues, social studies, elementary school teacher.

This research analyzes the implementation of the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) model and its impact on fifth-grade students’ short story reading comprehension at SDN 1 Arjawinangun. The study responds to challenges such as low reading interest and difficulty in understanding text content. Grounded in constructivist theory (Piaget & Vygotsky), social learning theory (Bandura), and metacognitive theory (Flavell), PBL encourages active, meaningful, and reflective learning. This qualitative case study involved a teacher and selected fifth-grade students, using interviews, participatory observation, and document analysis as data collection techniques. The findings show that PBL was effectively implemented through stages of problem orientation, organizing learning, guiding investigation, creating and presenting work, and evaluating the process. This approach significantly improved students’ comprehension skills, including identifying characters, determining main ideas, extracting moral values, and concluding story content. Students showed increased interest and motivation due to the interactive nature of PBL, which aligns with meaningful learning theory (Ausubel). Both teacher and students perceived the model positively, recognizing it as innovative and supportive in enhancing text comprehension. Although challenges such as time constraints and adapting materials for lower-ability learners emerged, the study concludes that PBL is a theoretically sound and practically effective strategy to enhance reading comprehension in elementary education.

Through a randomized controlled trial, this mixed‐methods study evaluated changes in elementary science teachers’ understandings, confidence, and classroom implementation of problem‐based learning (PBL), inquiry, and nature of science (NOS) instruction following participation in a professional development (PD) as well as the components of the PD that teachers perceived facilitated these changes. Results indicated that following the PD, treatment teacher (n = 139) understandings of and confidence for teaching inquiry, NOS, and PBL were significantly greater than control teachers (n = 98) after controlling for preunderstandings and confidence. The effect sizes were large. Treatment teachers also incorporated significantly more PBL, inquiry, and NOS into their instruction. Modeling, microteaching with feedback and reflection, and in‐classroom coaching facilitated teachers’ confidence, understanding, and intention to implement the reform‐based practices they learned. Implications for the understanding of the relationship between knowledge, confidence, and practice as well as elementary science teacher PD design are discussed.