Abstract

FERNANDEZ, Carina Lorena  and  AGUADO, María Inés. Problem-based learning as a complement to traditional teaching in Physicochemistry. Educ. quím [online]. 2017, vol.28, n.3, pp.154-162. ISSN 0187-893X.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eq.2017.03.001.

Physicochemistry’s contents are considered as of little application in the future, and so a lot of the students direct their efforts towards a superficial learning. Problem-based learning (PBL) is a methodological strategy that seeks to stimulate the need of knowing in students and it is used as a mean to acquire knowledge and apply them to solve a real or fictitious problem. The purpose of this article is to describe the results of an experience in which PBL was used as a complement of traditional teaching in three student cohorts. Two instances of qualitative evaluation and three of quantitative evaluation were done. Results showed a high qualitative evaluation, emphasizing the students´ satisfaction with the close integration of theoretical and practical contents. At the same time, the group quantitative achievements were very encouraging, even though the individual performance of the group members did not reflect the same. In conclusion, the adoption of PBL as a complement to traditional teaching is an educational investment that is fruitful at least in the short and medium term, despite the initial resistance of the students and the time and effort demanded to teachers and students.

Keywords : Teaching-learning methods; Unstructured problems; Theoretical-practical integration; Superficial learning; Team work.