International Journal of Information and Education Technology, Vol. 6, No.

9, September 2016

The Effect of Project-Based Learning on Learning

Motivation and Problem-Solving Ability of Vocational
High School Students
C. L. Chiang and H. Lee

 jobs which they are taking. When these students entrance to

Abstract—Due to pay too much attention to pencil-and-paper the vocational schools, which emphasize the practical
test, lacking of learning motivation and problem- solving ability knowledge and hands-on abilities, few of them has the
are quite popular for the vocational high school students in experience of problem solving, so the teachers in the
Taiwan. This study developed a project-based curriculum for
the vocational high school students majored in food and
vocational high schools have troubles to teach students
beverage, and examine the effect of the curriculum on students’ problem solving.
learning motivation and ability of problem solving by means of Although definitions vary in the specifics, project-based
quasi-experimental method and qualitative analysis. The objects learning (PBL) is typically considered an approach to
of this study are the students majored in food and beverage from teaching in which students respond to real-world questions or
two vocational high schools in Taiwan, divided into treatment challenges through an extended inquiry process [1]. PBL
group and control group. The treatment-group students are
given project-based teaching method and control group students organizes learning around projects and involves the students
are given traditional teaching method during four week period in authentic situations where they can explore and apply the
of courses. Research questionnaires consist of learning subject matter to problems that are complex and relevant to
motivation scale and problem-solving ability questions and the professional practice for which they are preparing [2]. The
answers. The questionnaires, “Learning motivation of characteristics of PBL are developing students‟ thinking skills,
vocational high school students” and “Problem-solving ability of
allowing them to have creativity, encouraging them to work
vocational high school students”, were conducted to both
treatment and control group students. The research results cooperatively, and leading them to access the information on
showed project-based learning not only could enhance their own and to demonstrate this information. PBL usually
vocational school students’ learning motivation, but facilitate require students to participate willingly in the meaningful
their problem-solving ability. The contribution of the research is learning activities proposed, mostly teamwork [3]. In PBL
to the vocational education, especially to give the teachers a real environments, students learn primarily by constructing
exemplar of PBL.
knowledge and making meaning through iterative processes
of questioning, active learning, sharing, and reflection. It
Index Terms—Project-based learning, learning motivation,
problem-solving ability. service learning emphasizes educational opportunities that
are interdisciplinary, student-centered, collaborative, and
integrated with real-world issues and practices [4]. It has been
I. INTRODUCTION reported that this approach is effective and widely used in
variety of classroom settings [5]. There are many studies in
Based on the culture value, the parents and the teachers in
the decade showed that project-based learning is an efficient
Taiwan pay too much attention to entrance exam. Parents are
teaching strategy to enhance students‟ learning motivation
tended to encourage their children to the general high schools,
and help students to engage into the learning activities [6]-[8].
because they believe that it is a better way to go to the
Some researchers pointed out that self-directed learning of the
university. Therefore, most of the vocational high schools in
elementary school students could be stimulated in the PBL
Taiwan are regarded as belonging to the low-ability students,
activities [9], [10]. And some study results indicate that PBL
and lots of the students in the vocational high schools have
has a potential for improved students' outcomes in the
low learning motivation. Most of them do not think they have
affective domain including attitudes toward chemistry and
the ability to learn; in other words, they have low motivation
self-efficacy beliefs [11]. Student motivation is stimulated in
in learning.
multiple ways in a PBL environment, such as formal and
Besides, the majority of junior high school students studied
informal group discussions, regular supervisor meetings and
in the learning environment which is full of teacher-centered
sharing leadership [12]. To sum up, evidence of the potential
instruction. Students are used to receiving step-by-step
of PBL approach, especially facilitate learning achievement
instructions. The knowledge learning from the textbooks and
and motivation of students is well documented in prior
exams is not usual to be transferred to the daily life and to the
studies.
In addition, the PBL approach has been used in STEM
Manuscript received December 30, 2014; revised April 22, 2015. (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)
C.-L. Chiang was with the National Dong Hwa University, Hualien, education, which is integrated and practical, to enhance
97401 Taiwan (e-mail: [email protected]). understanding of the course material [13]-[15]. Vocational
H. Lee is with the National Dong Hwa University, Hualien, 97401
Taiwan (e-mail: [email protected]). education is emphasized in disciplines integration and

DOI: 10.7763/IJIET.2016.V6.779 709

 International Journal of Information and Education Technology, Vol. 6, No. 9, September 2016

practicing ability; therefore, PBL could be properly applied III. RESULTS

not only in general schools but in vocational schools. One of
the advantages of PBL is to help students to solve problems in A. The PBL Curriculum — Red Rice
the authentic situations by means of collaborating with peers The PBL curriculum, namely „Red Rice‟ was developed
[16]. PBL is not the additional curriculum but defining and and taught for the 46 students majored in food and beverage
solving problems in terms of relevant knowledge and skills of a vocational high school. The curriculum included 16 hours
[17]. Problem solving is essential in the project doing process. students‟ project exploration, information searching, food
In order to complete the project, students need to overcome making, face to face advice from the teacher, and a
all the difficulties, and their problem solving ability is presentation of efforts was also made at the end of the
gradually getting better and meaningful. Cultivating students‟ curriculum.
problem solving ability is an important goal for vocational There are some common features to PBL implementation
education. To enhance the vocational education in Taiwan, are an anchor of the activity, a task, an investigation,
this study aims to explore the effect of PBL on learning provision of resources, scaffolding, collaboration, and
motivation and problem solving ability of the vocational high opportunities for reflection and transfer. Therefore, in the
school students. beginning of the „red rice‟ curriculum, most of the students
were not familiar with red rice. They had no idea of the
various products of red rice. So the teacher encouraged them
II. METHOD to search for the introduction to red rice, and ask them to
A convergent mixed methods research study was used to design recipes for making two products of rice -- sweet
investigate whether or not students who participated in the fermented rice and the bread with sweet-fermented-rice flavor.
problem-based learning environment improved their learning Students had to make both the products of red and white rice,
motivation and problem solving ability. Both compare the product‟s tastes, score for the products, and
quasi-experiment and qualitative method were used in this exploring the factors which may influence the products.
study. Not only the questionnaires but the students‟ At the final stage of the curriculum, students presented their
products, the results of comparing with red rice and white rice
worksheets were conducted, collected and analyzed. And the
and their tastes of the products, and the key factors which
classroom observation was also recorded and analyzed. To
make the red rice tasty. In the period of PBL, students could
understand students‟ opinions about the PBL curriculum,
get the knowledge of red rice, the skill of making sweet
several students were interviewed individually after the class
fermented rice and bread with the special flavor, and the
occasionally.
abilities of exploration the ferment procedure scientifically.
The objects of this study are the students majored in food
and beverage from two vocational high schools in Taiwan, B. The Effect of PBL on Learning Motivation of the
divided into treatment group and control group. There are 46 Vocational High School Students
students in the treatment group and 42 students in the control To understand the effect of PBL on the vocational high
group. The treatment-group students are given project-based school students‟ learning motivation, one-way ANCOVA for
teaching method and control group students are given the pre- and post- test of “Learning motivation of vocational
traditional teaching method during four week period of high school students” of two groups is used. Before doing
courses. The theme of the project is “red rice” which is a local one-way analysis of covariance, homogeneity of variance test
and special food in the eastern Taiwan. It is full of nutrition is needed, in order to make sure if the data is followed with the
for the women who just have new-born baby. Because the red basic hypothesis of ANCOVA. The result of Levene‟s test
rice is not easy to grow up, people cherish it very much. showed that there is no significance (F=3.18, p=.078＞.05).
Research questionnaires consist of learning motivation In other words, the analysis data is followed with the basic
scale and problem-solving ability questions and answers. The hypothesis of ANCOVA. The result of one-way ANCOVA
questionnaires, “Learning motivation of vocational high for the students‟ learning motivation is showed as Table I.
school students” and “Problem-solving ability of vocational There is significance between treatment group and control
high schools students”, were conducted to both treatment and group (F=32.335, p=.000<.05). It means learning motivation
control group students, before and after four week period of of the vocational high school students are influenced by PBL
courses. “Learning motivation of vocational high school activities. The change of learning motivation of the treatment
students” is followed by Velayutham, Aldridge and Fraser group is more positive than the control group.
(2011) [18], and “Problem-solving ability of vocational high
TABLE I: ANCOVA FOR THE STUDENTS‟ LEARNING MOTIVATION
schools students” is developed by Liu (2006) [19]. The
Source of
reliability of “Learning motivation of vocational high school Variation SS’ df MS’ F Sig.
students” is quite high. The value of Cronbach‟s Alpha is .959.
Treatment 2.409 1 2.409 32.335 .000***
Because the items of “Problem-solving ability of vocational
Error 6.406 86 .074
high schools students” are open-ended, two vocational high
Total 8.815 87
school teachers were invited to give points for students‟
***p< .001
answers in each item. The Pearson correlation coefficient
is .807. It showed the inter-rater reliability is high enough. At the first class of the curriculum, many students were not
Finally, one-way analysis of covariance (one-way ANCOVA) interested in doing project. They thought it wasted time and
was used after the pre- and post- test. did not know how to do it. The dialogue between students in

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 International Journal of Information and Education Technology, Vol. 6, No. 9, September 2016

one group from classroom observation was as follows: analysis data is followed with the basic hypothesis of
ANCOVA. The result of one-way ANCOVA for the students‟
Cindy: (lying on her chair)Oh, come on, I hate to do
problem solving ability is showed as Table II. There is
project and think.
significance between treatment group and control group
David: Quietly, the teacher may hear what you said.
(F=104.833, p= .000 < .05). It means problem solving ability
Cindy: So what? I don’t care.
of the vocational high school students are influenced by PBL
Judy: My mom is the expert of red rice. I can ask her to do
activities. The change of problem solving ability of the
the project for us, so we can do nothing now.
treatment group is more positive than the control group.
Cindy: Great! Let’s call your mom for help!
Teacher: I’ve heard you. You have to finish the project in TABLE II: ANCOVA FOR THE STUDENTS‟ PROBLEM SOLVING ABILITY
school, not at home. And you have to give me the introduction Source of Variation SS’ df MS’
to red rice before you leave. Treatment 14.656 1 14.656
In the fifth class of the curriculum, students‟ reaction of Error 12.023 86 .140
doing project began more positive. The students paid more Total 26.679 87
attention to their recipe of sweet fermented red/white rice, and ***p< .001
didn‟t want to be failed while make the food.
Seldom vocational high school student has the experience
Judy: Teacher, may I change the recipe of sweet fermented of exploration; therefore when they face problems they
red/white rice? always don‟t know how to begin. Group 1 is one of the cases.
Teacher: Why do you want to change? At the beginning of exploring the factors of making sweet
Judy: After searching the information about red rice, I fermented rice, in the first discussion with teacher, they were
found it is not so easy to make it fermented. I asked my mom waiting for the teacher to give them the answer. However,
after the class, and tried to combine my mom’s experience when they found the teacher would never tell them the answer,
and the information which I search from the web. Actually, they tried to guess the factors and explore the different results
we didn’t pay attention to our first recipe, I’m afraid we while manipulating the factors.
won’t make it successfully.
Teacher: Ok, tell me what you want to explore?
It shows that the student begins to care about the project Group 1: (silent)
and wants to finish it successfully. In the next week, the Teacher: What have you found about the sweet fermented
students‟ learning motivation was really enhanced, they rice from the web?
enjoyed in practicing and exploration. Even they belonged to Pearl: (read) ‘…You could cover the rice with carpet…’
the different groups, they could share their experience and Teacher: Ok, what question do you want to ask?
help peers spontaneously. From the beginning of avoiding of Pearl: Teacher, why the sweet fermented rice need to be
trying, to the end of enjoying in learning, the students‟ covered by the carpet?
learning motivation is really progressive. Judy is one of the Teacher: I don’t know either. Why do you want to cover the
cases: sweet fermented rice with carpet?
Brenda (group 1): Cindy, please come to see our rice! Why Pearl: That’s what the web site said.
hasn’t it been steamed well-done? Group 1: (silent)
Teacher: Try to guess the reason.
Judy (group 3): (Opened the steam pot cover, pinched the Ting: Escaping from the sunlight! And the web site said it
rice, and ate a bite. And she turned to take a water spray to can keep it warm.
add some water into the pot.) Come on, my dear classmate, Teacher: Do you mean sunlight and temperature are
your rice is too dry to be well-done. factors for rice ferment?
At the end of the curriculum, we interviewed Judy, and she Ting: Yes.
said: „I found I have the potentially to make sweet fermented Teacher: Good! How could you make sure?
rice. Because when I combine the information from my mom Pearl: One bottle of fermented rice is covered with carpet,
and from the web, I can grab the keys of making it. It‟s fun to and one bottle isn’t.
make it successfully, and now I feel happy to share with my Alice: But we can’t make sure if the two factors are all
friend.‟ important.
Ting: We can put them into two boxes, both them could
C. The Effect of PBL on Problem Solving Ability of the avoid sunlight. One of them can keep warm, but one can’t.
Vocational High School Students
To compare the effect of PBL on the vocational high school In a learning situation, if a teacher can guide students into
students‟ problem solving ability, one-way ANCOVA for the the proper sequence, it would be helpful for students‟ learning.
pre- and post- test of “Problem Solving Ability of vocational From the dialogue above, we can see the students gradually
high school students” of the treatment and control groups is get the ability of problem solving followed by the teacher‟s
used. Before doing one-way analysis of covariance, questioning. First of all, all the members of Group1 kept
homogeneity of variance test is analyzed first, in order to silence when the teacher asked them: “tell me what you want
make sure if the data is followed with the basic hypothesis of to explore?” When the teacher found the students couldn‟t
ANCOVA. The result of Levene‟s test showed that there is no reach the goal, she let them just read what they had found
significance (F=.974, p=.326 ＞ .05). In other words, the from the website. The task was easier, so the student could

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enlightening the general education, but also encouraging the
vocational education. Practical knowledge and abilities are C. L. Chiang is an assistant professor and a doctoral
supervisor in National Dong Hwa University,
more emphasized in the vocational high school. The teachers Taiwan.
are always the key of educational reform. If the vocational Her main research interests are focused on science
high school teachers could design more PBL activities during education, especially in peer interaction, power
relationship in science classroom, science language,
teaching, the students would get the problem solving ability students‟ identity of science learning, and gender in
and move the ability to the practical situations which they science. Most of her studies combine theories with
might face in the future. practices, cooperatively with teachers in elementary
and junior/senior schools. In addition, she also pays attention to astronomy
education and population. Not only has she the course of astronomy
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