A Practical Study On The Development Of Higher-order Thinking Skills In High School Chemistry Under PBL Model

PBL refers to problem-centered learning.The PBL model emphasizes the creation of realistic and complex life situations,posing core problems,and students constructing knowledge in the process of problem solving.With the rapid development of the information age,people’s thinking urgently needs to be transformed from low order to high order,and the new round of chemistry classroom teaching reform clearly proposes that developing students’ "higher order thinking" is the key to implementing core literacy.Higher-order thinking is a comprehensive ability of high cognitive level in the process of problem solving,therefore,the starting point of this study is what teaching mode is used to develop students’ higher-order thinking ability in classroom teaching.After reading a lot of literature,we found that PBL model and higher-order thinking skills development have many fits,so we analyze the feasibility of integrating the two on the basis of sorting out the theoretical studies related to PBL teaching model and higher-order thinking skills,and propose research ideas and practice.Preparation for the practical study: To compile and analyze the literature related to PBL teaching model and higher-order thinking ability at home and abroad,to clarify in detail the origin,connotation,and current research status of PBL model in the field of chemistry teaching,as well as the connotation,cultivation strategy,measurement and evaluation tools and other theoretical bases of higher-order thinking ability,and to theoretically argue the possibility of integrating the two.In this study,questionnaires and interviews were used to understand the current status of the development of higher-order thinking skills of high school students in chemistry and the teachers’ cultivation of them.It was found that the overall level of higher-order thinking of high school students was moderately low,especially in the first year of high school,and most teachers were weak in their awareness of cultivating students’ higher-order thinking skills.Thus,under the guidance of constructivist learning theory,pragmatism theory,Bloom’s theory of classification of educational goals and higher-order learning theory,we designed a PBL teaching model for the development of higher-order thinking skills in chemistry with reference to Barrows’ problem-oriented teaching process,starting from the new curriculum standards for chemistry.This study was conducted in a model high school in Xuzhou City,Jiangsu Province,using some of the lessons in the first book of Compulsory Chemistry of the Su Education Edition as examples.Multiple evaluation methods such as process evaluation,midterm and final grades,self-administered test papers,high school students’ higher-order thinking skills evaluation scale and student interviews were used to test the teaching effects.The results of the study showed that the higher-order thinking skills and the four dimensions of chemistry in the experimental class were improved after the practice of PBL teaching,and there was a significant difference compared with the control class.The overall mean score of the self-made chemistry test paper was 6.73 points higher in the experimental class than in the control class,indicating that the use of PBL teaching could improve students’ performance to some extent.In addition,some questions in the test paper also reflected that the analytical reasoning and problem-solving thinking ability of the students in the experimental class was at a higher level.The problematic situations in PBL teaching can arouse students’ interest and desire to learn chemistry and make them feel the unique charm of the subject.At the same time,the communication and discussion activities in the group can promote the improvement of language and experimental skills,and the design of experimental solutions can develop students’ creative thinking to a certain extent.In addition,students recognize that mind mapping is one of the important tools for knowledge integration,and try to complete the establishment of cognitive models independently on the premise of mastering the model building method.To sum up,the PBL teaching mode helps students gradually become the "master of learning",from the previous passive acceptance of knowledge to active exploration of knowledge,and to a certain extent develops students’ higher-order thinking skills in chemistry.