The Development of Problem-Based Learning Activities on Buddhist Principles for Grade 8 Students

Abstract

The objectives of this research were to: 1) develop problem-based learning activities on Buddhist principles for Grade 8 students to achieve the specified efficiency criterion of 80/80; 2) compare the learning achievement of students who received problem-based learning activities with that of students who received conventional instruction; 3) compare the desirable characteristic of discipline between students who received problem-based learning activities and those who received conventional instruction; and 4) investigate students’ satisfaction with the problem-based learning activities. The sample was selected through cluster random sampling by drawing lots and consisted of Grade 8/7 students as the control group and Grade 8/3 students as the experimental group. The research instruments included 1) 10 learning management plans, 2) a learning achievement test, 3) a scale measuring the desirable characteristic of discipline, and 4) a satisfaction questionnaire. The data were analyzed using percentages, mean, standard deviation, and an independent-samples t-test.

The results showed that: 1) the problem-based learning activities on Buddhist principles for Grade 8 students achieved an efficiency level of 86.03/80.67, which met the specified criterion; 2) students who received problem-based learning activities had significantly higher learning achievement than those who received conventional instruction at the .05 level of statistical significance; 3) students who received problem-based learning activities demonstrated significantly higher levels of the desirable characteristic of discipline than those who received conventional instruction at the .05 level of statistical significance; and 4) students’ overall satisfaction with the problem-based learning activities on Buddhist principles was at the highest level.