African Educational Research Journal - Vol. 11(2) - Full Length Research Paper - The effect of a problem-based learning model on highschool students' human values

Oct 15, 2026

Different methods are needed in vocational education to connect learned knowledge to real-life situations. The study investigated how problem-based learning (PBL) models affect high school students’ human values using a mixed-method approach. Quasi-experimental quantitative data from the Human Values Scale were collected from 32 vocational and technical students in Turkey, complemented by focus group interviews with six students. Results indicated a strong relationship between PBL and human values, with positive effects on most scale items, supporting PBL’s role in higher learning outcomes and value development.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time33 min

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Abstract

Introduction

Problem-based learning (PBL)

Problem-solving and learning outcomes

African Educational Research Journal Vol. 11(2), pp. 157-169, April 2023 DOI: 10. 30918/AERJ.112.23.020 ISSN: 2354-2160 Full Length Research Paper The effect of a problem-based learning model on highschool students' human values Cenk Hatipoğlu* and Nuriye Semerci Faculty of Education, Bartin University, Turkey. Accepted 3 April, 2023 | ABSTRACT
Different methods are needed in the field of vocational education to ensure that students associate the knowledge they have learned with real-life situations. Considering that problem-based learning (PBL) techniques also have important effects in the context of human values, this study aimed to investigate the effects of PBL models on high school students' human values. A mixed-method approach and expansive sequential pattern were used. Quantitative data were obtained through a quasi-experimental method that employed the Human Values Scale as a measurement tool, applied to 32 vocational and technical highschool students in Turkey. In the qualitative dimension, focus group interviews were conducted with six student participants. Non-parametric statistical techniques and content analysis were performed, and results showed that there was a strong relationship between the PBL model and students’ human values; human values were positively affected and increased in all but one of the scale items. It was concluded that PBL can result in high-level learning outcomes and has a positive effect on learning and human values in general.
Keywords: Problem-based learning, values, vocational and technical education. | | --- | | *Corresponding author. E-mail: [cenkhatipoglu@gmail.com](cenkhatipoglu@gmail.com). | INTRODUCTION Almost all schools teach curriculum content using traditional methods. In the teaching process, information is transferred from teachers to students through methods such as direct instructions, questions, and answers; the student knows what the content to be learned is but does not yet have a precise idea of what that information actually is and how to use it. At all levels of education, including vocational education, methods are needed to enable students to connect the information they learn with real-life situations (Chua et al. , 2016; Chien, 2020; García-Merino et al. , 2020) . The same is true for a new programme within the justice field of vocational and technical education in Turkey. Currently, the transfer of the subjects and modules of law and justice courses is carried out through group or individual seminars, presentations, lectures, and question-and-answer sessions that define the general principles of law and are mainly based on the transfer of written law and legislation. Problem-based learning (PBL) is an educational model characterized by student-centered learning and classroom discussion in groups to learn about a topic using clinical-based problems (Kong, 2014) . American education scientist and philosopher Dewey laid the philosophical and pedagogical foundations of PBL (Collette and Chiappetta, 1989) . At the end of the nineteenth century and in the early twentieth century, Dewey (1995) stated that the school should be life itself, criticising the US’s education system and the classical education approach. He believed that learning by doing, living, and experiencing real-life problems has an effect on thinking skills. PBL itself was first developed by Barrows (1980) to encourage learning by ensuring that students saw their roles and practice in the context of medical education (Beaumont et al. , 2014; Torre [et.al](et.al). , 2016) . PBL provides a student-centred learning Afr Educ Res J 158 environment that encourages curiosity (Schmidt et al. , 1987) and was later adopted by different undergraduate programmes and school levels and expanded to the fields of health sciences, mathematics, law, education, economics, business, social sciences, and engineering ( Duch, 2001 ; Armstrong, 2008; Liu et al. 2010) . In PBL-based lessons, di

FAQs

What is the main purpose of this study?

To investigate the effects of a problem-based learning (PBL) model on high school students’ human values in vocational and technical education.

How was the study conducted?

It used a mixed-method approach with quasi-experimental quantitative data via the Human Values Scale and qualitative focus group interviews.

What did the results show about PBL and human values?

The findings showed a strong relationship between the PBL model and students’ human values, with human values positively affected and increased in all but one scale item.

Oct 15, 2026

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