The Effectiveness of the Chemistry PBL Method via Facebook on the Soft Skills of College Students

Abstract

It is undeniable that social media such as Facebook has such a great influence in all fields, including education. The main objective of this research is to study the interaction effects of the VARK learning style and students’ learning approach on the development of their soft skills using the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) methods via Facebook in learning chemistry. The research sample consists of 120 Kolej MARA students who were randomly selected to undergo PBL via Facebook treatment for nine weeks. This quantitative research uses experiment design with descriptive and factorial 4x2 (Two-Way ANOVA) data analysis. The descriptive data analysis result finds that the problem-based learning method via Facebook is successful in developing soft skill elements such as communication skills, teamwork and leadership skills, problem-solving skills, self-ethics and moral worth, and continuous learning and information management skills. For the Two-Way ANOVA analysis, the main effects studied are the VARK learning style and the students’ learning approach, as well as the interaction of the two towards the development of the students’ soft skills after they were involved in problem-based learning method via Facebook. Test results show that the main effect of the VARK learning style on the development of their soft skills is insignificant across the students’ learning approach using problem-based learning method via Facebook. The same goes for the main effect of the learning approach, which is also insignificant across the students’ VARK learning style. The interaction effect between both free variables (VARK learning style and learning approach) on the development of soft skills is also found to be insignificant.