The Problem-based Learning Management for Computational Thinking Skill Development of Vocational Students in Rectilinear Motion

Abstract

The research aimed to study using a problem-based learning approach to develop the computational thinking skills of students in rectilinear motion and study changes in their skills. The participants derived from purposive sampling were 40 high vocational certificate students studying at a vocational institution in Loei Province. The research design was three cycles of classroom action research, and instruments included three lesson plans, a reflective form, a computational thinking test, and learning notes. The data were analyzed through content analysis and triangulation. The results indicated that the problem-based learning approach needs to focus on using a situation familiar with students’ real lives and reviewing their prior knowledge and calculation skills. These enable them to identify the situation as a big problem, break it into sub-problems, and then search for information and arrange that into steps of its solutions. Moreover, an instructor should allow students to discuss the solution process, exchange knowledge, and make suggestions with others. In addition, the findings revealed that the students’ computational thinking skills had increased. They wrote an explanation of the solution and presented it also, they mostly improved their computational thinking skills in rectilinear motion under gravity, and lastly, they learned to develop their skills in movement definition.