| This study examined the effects of a Problem-Based Learning unit of instruction on high school students enrolled in Biology for the Technologies by measuring the effect of a Problem-Based Learning unit on student concept of self and attitude toward science. Bracken's (1992) commercially available Multidimensional Self Concept Scale (MSCS) with six subscales was used to measure the difference in the concept of self of two groups of high school Bio-Tech students, one group that participated in a Problem-Based Learning unit of study for four to six weeks and another group that did not do so. A second measure, Science as You See It (SAYSI), with five subscales was designed by the investigator to evaluate the effect of the same Problem-Based Learning unit of instruction on the attitude toward science of the same two groups of high school Bio-Tech students. This study also explored the relationship between the dependent variables and considered the effect of gender on performance over time as measured by the MSCS and the SAYSI.; According to the multivariate tests of significance, the intervention, a Problem-Based Learning unit of instruction, appeared to have no statistically significant effect on the total score or subscores of the concept of self of high school students enrolled in Biology for the Technologies, nor did it seem to have any statistically significant effect on the attitude toward science of these same students. No statistically significant correlation was evident between the two measures or their subscales, and no relationship appeared to exist between pre- and post scores according to gender by treatment. Gender, alone, was statistically significant for attitude toward science. |
