The Efficacy of Problem-Based Learning in an Instrumental Analyse Laboratory

In the context of the study, an instrumental analysis laboratory course offering Problem-Based Learning (PBL) was designed as an alternative to traditional laboratory practices. The study was conducted with a total of 36 volunteer, prospective chemistry teachers consisting of fourth year undergraduates and graduates. While PBL activities were conducted with 19 of the prospective teachers, instrumental analysis laboratory activities were conducted with 17 of them using the traditional approach. The first aim of this study was to determine the levels of perception of problem-solving ability and self-regulatory learning strategies of prospective teachers after and before all the applications. The second aim was to compare the effects of PBL instrumental analyze laboratory course and traditional instrumental analyze laboratory course on the perceptions of problem-solving ability and self-regulatory strategies of prospective teachers. A pre-test-post-test control group design was used. In this study, data were obtained using the “Problem Solving Inventory (PSI)” and “Self-Regulatory Strategy Scale (SRSS)”. The pretest-posttest results of the SRRS test showed that the prospective teachers in the experimental group used self-regulatory learning strategies more often when compared to the ones in the control group. According to the results obtained within the scope of the study, it can be said that the effect of PBL on the perception levels of problem solving skills and self-regulatory learning skills of prospective teachers is more effective than the traditional laboratory teaching application.