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Dissertation
Effect of Project-Based Learning on High School Chemistry Performance
University of West Florida Libraries
Doctor of Education (EDD), University of West Florida
2025
Abstract
Student academic performance in science has been stagnant since the 1980s. This situation hasprompted chemistry teachers to seek new instructional strategies to improve student performance in chemistry. Project-based learning (PBL) is a viable pedagogy for improving student performance in chemistry. This quantitative quasi-experimental dissertation-in-practice action research aimed to determine whether PBL incorporated in chemistry instruction affected students’ academic performance compared to traditional learning (TL) at a northern New Jersey high school. The study used theoretical constructs of experiential education associated with inquiry learning and real-world problem solving. The PBL students conducted an inquiry
investigation to solve a real-world problem of removing harmful heavy metals in wastewater using double replacement reactions. In contrast, the control group received TL instruction. The 30 students from experimental and control groups took pretests and posttests. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) on the pretest confirmed that students’ differences in prior chemistry knowledge were not statistically significant, F(4, 70) = .497, p = .738. The ANOVA on the
posttest confirmed a statistically significant difference between the PBL and TL techniques on student performance, F(1, 28) = 11.210, p = .002. Traditionally instructed students received a mean posttest score of 49.33 (n = 15, SD = 17.099) while students who received PBL received a higher mean posttest score of 71.33 (n = 15, SD = 18.848). The higher mean posttest data of the PBL group revealed better student performance in learning chemistry with PBL instruction.
Details
- Title
- Effect of Project-Based Learning on High School Chemistry Performance
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Contributors
- Achraf Cohen (Methodologist) - University of West Florida, Hal Marcus College of Science and EngineeringMark Malisa (Committee Co-Chair) - University of West Florida, School of EducationSubhash C Bagui (Committee Co-Chair) - University of West Florida, Hal Marcus College of Science and Engineering
- Publisher
- University of West Florida Libraries
- Format
- pdf
- Number of pages
- 132
- Copyright
- Unpublished work © Deepani Himali Goonatilleke
- Identifiers
- 99381357076106600
- Academic Unit
- School of Education
- Language
- English
- Awarding Institution
- University of West Florida; Doctor of Education (EDD)
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Education (EDD), University of West Florida