A Study on the Incorporation of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) in a University Freshman English Class

This study aims to investigate the incorporation of Problem-based Learning (PBL) approach in a university freshman English class. Unlike any other lecture-based teaching approach, PBL is a learner-centered pedagogy that is often applied in medical programs to help learners develop critical thinking skills to solve complicated problem that may or may have occurred in realistic situations. In a PBL setting, learners are not supposed to receive answers directly from the instructor. Instead, learners are grouped to conduct research for the problems presented by the instructor through several meetings and discussions. By doing so, learners can self-direct their studies independently and cooperatively to achieve the learning goals. A PBL instructor’s job is to facilitate learners bridging their retained knowledge with the obtained knowledge in the learning process. Nowadays, PBL is recognized as an effective learning approach in academic field (Vardi & Ciccarelli, 2008). Motivated by the effectiveness of PBL, the researcher studied a freshman English class that had incorporated with PBL in learning for a semester. In this study, four variables: (1) perception, (2) satisfaction, (3) motivation, and (4) learning achievement were investigated through learners’ self-reported information. The major findings suggested that most learners perceive PBL as an interesting but time consuming learning approach. Although a great number of students are satisfied with PBL,mixed feelings about learners’ motivation toward PBL were discovered in the research. However, the majority of learners self-reported that they have devoted much time studying English because of PBL’s requirements and that ultimately developed their interests in the English language.