Effect of PBL method on critical thinking in Mathematics problem solving among matriculation college students

The purpose of this research was to study the effect of PBL method in promoting critical thinking in mathematical problem solving among students in matriculation colleges. This quantitative study was conducted using quasi experiment design. The study population consists of mathematics students from Malaysian matriculation colleges. The sample for the study was selected from one of the fifteen matriculation colleges using the convenience sampling method. Research respondents consisted of 159 students who were allocated to experimental group and 162 students allocated to control group. Both groups were given an assignment to solve mathematics problems in number system, sequence and series using respective intervention methods. Data for critical thinking were obtained using five criteria which are observation and inference; listing information; finding strategies; assessing accuracy and finding alternative solutions. Reliability and validity of the instrument used to study critical thinking were determined through a pilot test. This instrument had a Cronbach-α value of 0.958. The findings showed that PBL teaching and learning method was effective in promoting critical thinking among Malaysia matriculation college students. PBL method was found to be effective in encouraging all critical thinking criteria except in finding alternative methods of solutions to given problems. The results also showed that students from the routine method group did slightly better in solving mathematics problems compared to PBL method group. The implication of this study was that PBL method has potential to be used as an alternative pedagogy to encourage critical thinking in Malaysian matriculation college students. This method can also be used for subjects other than mathematics.