The findings clearly identify that none of the students has experienced PBL or any active learning approach before entering this institute. Most of the students feel that they received a
62.50% 25.00% 12.50%
Academic Background
MCE MHSC Diploma 50% 25% 25%Age
20-21 22-24 Above 25126
“culture shock” when they were first introduced to PBL early in the induction week. They also report that there were no proper PBL guidelines and training given, either verbally or in writing. However, they claim, after undergoing two or three PBL sessions, they acknowledge had a good view of the PBL process.
CS1S1 and CS1S4 realise that the success of PBL relies on the students’ understanding of the problem statement and their initiatives to learn. The lecturers are also reported to play an important role in engaging and motivating the students with their learning.
“It depends on the teacher’s approach towards PBL. If the lecturer is very enthusiastic for us to learn, it will motivate the students to find the knowledge by themselves. If not, you know what will happen. That is the difference between an effective teacher and a non-effective teacher. For me, I am easily affected in that way.” CS1S6 (21, MCE leaver)
In this case study, the students need to undergo six semesters of studying before they can graduate. For the first three semesters, they learn mostly general subjects, while the remaining three semesters focus on the core subjects. According to CS1S2 and CS1S5, most of the general subjects are conducted completely using a PBL approach while for discipline subjects, they only experience around two-three PBL sessions for each subject. They also add, during PBL sessions, it requires students to actively discuss, find information, solve the problem statement, work in a group, and interact with the people surrounding them, for example, lecturers, colleagues and vendors.
Most of the students believe PBL has helped their learning and developed their generic skills, especially in critical thinking. CS1S2, CS1S3 and CS1S4, for example, prefer PBL as their learning approach, compared to their experiences during secondary school, because of the active participation, and the interesting and fun environment, which makes it easier to understand and learn. CS1S4 and CS1S6 share the same thought and add that they have become more independent throughout the process; meanwhile CS1S8 claims that PBL has helped to develop her reasoning and communication skills. She says that, before PBL, she is not very social; however, PBL has changed her to a talkative person who can easily mix with others. Another benefit of PBL, most of the students reveal, is that the reflection after each of the PBL sessions helps them to realise their mistakes and what should be done differently and better in the future.
Time constraints in PBL such as to understand the problem statement, find information from various sources and prepare presentation slides, are highlighted as the challenges faced by the students in adopting the approach. Students rely on facilities such as the Internet, library books and engineering catalogues to find most of the information related to the given problem
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statement. Nevertheless, according to CS1S5, the Internet has become the most reliable source of information. This has caused some students to depend too much on the Internet and has indirectly encouraged students to plagiarise information needed from this medium.
“My colleagues and I always copy and paste information from the Internet. I think it is normal in PBL.” CS1S3 (26, MCE leaver)
4.3.3 Generic Skills Development
This section presents the findings of the students’ experiences in cultivating generic skills, namely: problem-solving, verbal communication and teamwork within the PBL environment. As mentioned in the previous section, PBL environment has clearly provided opportunities for students to work in groups, interact with people surrounding them and solve the problem statements. Consequently, it is important for the researcher to recognise the activities involved, how the skills are nurtured and later, verify the lecturer’s practice in developing those skills.
Generally, the students are aware of the importance of acquiring and developing generic skills, either in HE or, later, in the workplace. For example, CS1S2 states:
“I am sure I will face more problems that I need to solve later in the workplace, and at that time the skills that I have developed here can be applied to solve those problems. This will give me an advantage to think critically as well.” CS1S2 (23, Certificate holder)
CS1S3 believes that generic skills are likely to help him in job interviews:
“Frankly speaking, I have less experience attending interviews. That is why I think generic skills would help me to pass the interview. When the employer realises how confident I am when answering their questions and that I am able to elaborate my knowledge to solve the problem, I bet they will take me on. I got to know, that in an interview, they usually give the interviewee a problem and ask them to solve it. So, I guess I just need to explain and justify my solutions. This is where I can see the benefits of generic skills and doing PBL.” CS1S3 (26, MCE leaver)
a. Problem-Solving Skills Development
In every PBL session, either in general or the discipline subjects, the lecturer starts by presenting an authentic problem statement to the students and then asking the students to solve it within a certain duration of time. CS1S2 strongly considers himself a failure if he is not able to solve the problem within the allocated time. He further adds that he is aware of how precious this time will later prove to be in the workplace, because being late in solving a problem may cause the company to not be able to develop the solution, or result in a loss of profits that might affect the company’s reputation.
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When discussing the method of solving a problem, most of the students agree that they need to firstly understand the problem statement. According to CS1S3 and CS1S4, any problem can simply be solved by using a simple approach using the 3 K’s.
“From the problem statement we need to write the three Ks, what we know and do not know regarding the problem, and then what we need to know.” CS1S4 (21, MCE leaver)
Based on the students’ interview transcripts, the 3 K’s method is described as a structured list of information regarding the problem statement which, then is used to identify what other information is needed to solve the problem. However, not all students agree that the method is as simple as that. CS1S7 suggests that the method is confusing. He has experience of asking the lecturer to clarify his difficulties using the method, especially with what is known and what is needed to be known. From his perspective, they look similar. He further reveals that the lecturer is unable to help him convincingly with this difficulty. He also claims that most of the lecturers have used the same problem statements with previous classes. This practice leads to misuse by opportunist students.
“Most of the lecturers just print out and then give similar problem statements from the previous batch. So, most of the students can easily ask and get the answer from the seniors and students who have previously taken the subject.” CS1S7 (23, MHSC leaver)
The findings show that students are taught to be able to find information from multiple resources, either written basis, such as the; Internet, books and manuals, or by asking people surrounding them, for example vendors and senior students, especially during the Final Year Project (FYP).
CS1S6 claims that it is common practice in PBL for students to be required to solve problem statements within a group. Having a further discussion on the problem, sharing knowledge, justifying their findings, deciding the best solution at the end of the discussion and presenting it in front of the class are among the students’ answers on activities involved in developing problem-solving skills. Besides that, CS1S2 highlights the question and answer session at the end of the presentation has also helped him and other students to develop this skill. The experience of being able to answer questions and explain further to answer his classmates’ and lecturers’ curiosity has made him become more confident when speaking. CS1S8 agrees with CS1S2 and adds that problem-solving is not simply solving the problem at that particular time, but also reflecting on the quality of the solution and making sure that the same problem will not occur again. According to CS1S3, he feel more confident when he is able to solve and identify the possible solution to the problem. CS1S5 and CS1S6 realise that there are many ways in solving a problem and recommend
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always preparing a contingency plan in case the first does not work as planned. “It is not necessary to have only one way to solve the problem. You must always prepare a second answer to your question or contingency plan in whatever you have decided in the first place.” CS1S6 (21, MCE leaver)
b. Verbal Communication Skills Development
Based on the transcripts, the students clearly admit to having conducted presentations, either individually or in a group since entering this institute in the first semester until they graduated. Presentations are a common activity held in each of the subjects throughout their studies within the PBL environment. Through conducting presentations, CS1S4 says he has learnt how to convince and engage with the audience. CS1S1 agrees and adds that he really appreciates the opportunity to apply various methods of presentations in the PBL session. For him, to convey information and to make the audience understand what he is trying to deliver is a big responsibility. Furthermore, it requires good interpretation skills by those listening to the presentation.
“We need to avoid any miscommunications throughout the process, do not let them misinterpret our statements. Otherwise we have to accept that the communication has broken down.” CS1S1 (21, MCE leaver)
CS1S7 has benefitted from the mock presentations with his colleagues, which has made him more confident and more prepared before the actual presentation is conducted. All of the students clarify that they need to conduct the presentations in English. According to CS1S8, lecturers consistently encourage the students to converse in English inside and outside of the class.
“My lecturer requires that the students speak and conduct the presentations in English. Compared to my time in MARA University of Technology (MUT), here, I am able to practise my English with more confidence, conversing in English in the class and when I went to meet my supervisor, she always motivates me to speak in English.” CS1S8 (26, Diploma holder)
Despite the lecturer’s encouragement to converse in English, according to CS1S2 and CS1S4, sometimes the lecturers have to converse using the Malay language in class just to make sure the students understand about the topics or the terms used.
Other activities involved in developing verbal communication skills reported in the students’ transcripts are: active interaction with people surrounding them, whether in the class or at the campus; demonstrating system operations; through discussions, sharing information, elaborating ideas and updating project or work progress. However, CS1S5 realises there is not a straight-forward approach to develop verbal communication skills in PBL. He also
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adds some of the students are better at communication skills, probably because of the way they have been brought up.
The researcher recognises the students’ difficulties in developing verbal communication skills. Amongst the challenges identified from the students’ transcripts are that they easily become too nervous to speak in front of people, too self-conscious, they are not social people and they prefer to speak in Malay. Furthermore, CS1S8 experiences difficulty conversing in English outside of the classroom because some of the students thought she was showing off. Although, she also adds another factor is perhaps because of her age and she realises most of the students do not feel comfortable when speaking with her. These reasons have de-motivated her to improve her verbal communication skills.
c. Teamwork Skills Development
In the PBL environment, most of the learning activities take place in a group. According to CS1S3, they are usually divided into four or five students in a group, depending on the task and level of the problem or project difficulty. The students clarify that, most of the time, lecturers allow students to choose their group members, with the condition that they need to alternate group members in future group work. Criteria such as students’ capabilities, work experiences, possession of good technical knowledge and skills are common answers given by the students regarding how they select group members.
However, this flexibility in choosing team members creates dissatisfaction for some of the students. For example, CS1S8 and CS1S4 complain that they never have the opportunity to decide their group because the decision- making is always dominated by the top students. CS1S5 realises there are two obvious levels of groups of students when students choose their groups themselves.
“When we choose the group members by ourselves it creates a problem in the end; brilliant students will choose among themselves so there will be one or two ‘super groups’.” CS1S5 (21, MCE leaver)
The students’ interview transcripts clearly inform the researcher that they have experienced many activities to develop their teamwork skills. For example, among the students’ answer are: brainstorming, discussion, contributing ideas, group presentations, co-operating with other members and learning with each other, distributing tasks equally, and deciding the best solution to problems.
CS1S8 highlights that respecting each other and maintaining good relationships with other team members are crucial to build a mutual understanding. CS1S2 and CS1S6 agree and describe that working in a team requires high tolerance and consideration among group
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members. CS1S6 further adds in her statement that each of the team members must be aware of other members’ tasks and should always update on their progress. This is important because if anyone of them is falling behind, it is better for other members of the group to help. She is also aware of the circumstances of not being an efficient team:
“If the group is not effective, it will be difficult to complete the tasks within the time given.” CS1S6 (21, MCE leaver)
However, CS1S5 is not keen with offer too much help to his group members because he believes that some of them take advantage of this. He has experience of covering his colleagues’ tasks after being given numerous excuses. CS1S7 has also faced the same experience:
“If in a group of five people, only one or two people really want to do the task, the others just like to be passengers: sit tight, wait for the result and then present.” CS1S7 (23, MHSC leaver)
Nonetheless, CS1S8 encounters a different experience during her Final Year Project (FYP) and describes her frustration:
“I am the only girl in the group; I prefer to do my work early in the morning… But, the boys, they are the kind of people who like to sleep late; they usually start the FYP work late at around 4 pm and it will drag on until 4-5 am.” CS1S8 (26, Diploma holder)