INTRODUCTION
• This study seeks to address concerns expressed about higher education in Malaysia. In 2006, for example, almost 70 percent of Malaysian graduates were unable to secure employment (Ram, 2006), and in the Budget speech by the Prime Minister, the number of unemployed graduates in 2007 was reported to number about 31,000 (Shakir, 2009).
• The latest report revealed about 32,000 graduate students failed to get any job in any sector (Utusan Malaysia, 2010), something attributed to a lack of creativity, critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
• Hence, this study seeks to develop a teaching and learning approach based on problem-based learning (PBL) online to help Malaysian higher education teachers develop creativity and critical skills in their students.
RESEARCH QUESTION
1. Does PBL online improve undergraduate physic students’
and pre-service science teachers’ creative thinking?
2. Does PBL online improve undergraduate physic students’
and pre-service science teachers’ critical thinking?
METHODOLOGY
• A quasi-experimental research design (control and experimental group)
• A total of 102 students (i.e., N=61 of SST and N=41 of SESD students were involved). Then SST’s and SESD’s students were separated to two control and experimental group.
• The Torrence Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT) and Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA) were used as measurement to measure the dependent variable: performance in creative and critical thinking as the result of the PBLOnline independent variable.
• Data analysis were using the Mann-Whitney u Test and Independent Sample t-Test to seek any significant different of both control and experimental group.
RESULTS & DISCUSSION
CONCLUSION
GRANT & PAPER PUBLISHED
• There are obvious differences between the PBL group and traditional groups with respect to the flexibility, originality and elaboration components of creative thinking (i.e, fluency, flexibility, originality and elaboration are the main elements in TTCT test).
• For critical thinking, there were no major differences revealed for the PBL and traditional groups for both cohorts (i.e., physics undergraduates & pre-service science teachers) except for the inferencecriterion for SST students (which favored the PBL group), (i.e., inference, assumption, deduction, interpretation, and evaluation arguments are the main elements in WGCTA)
• PBL online has the potential to improve undergraduate of science physic students’ and pre-service science teachers’ creative thinking.
• At the same time, it is also observed that students’
critical thinking was impacted positively, as has been students’ motivation and interest in learning.
1. PBL online enhances of Malaysian tertiary students' creative thinking for both science physics students and pre-service science students.
2. PBL online also is capable of having a positive impact on critical thinking for certain criteria.
• FRG0016-22-1/2006 -The Effectiveness Of Problem- Based Learning (PBL) Online On Students’ Critical And Creative Thinking In Physics At Tertiary Level In Malaysia]
• Fauziah S. (2013). Students’ Satisfaction of Online Learning: A case study in Universiti Malaysia Sabah.
International Journal of European Research Output. 1(2) 2-16.
• Fauziah S. (2013). The Effectiveness of PBL Online on Pre-Service Science Teachers’ Creativity and Critical Thinking: A Case Study at Universiti Malaysia Sabah.
Wudpecker Journal of Educational and Research. 2(6), 086-096. ISSN 2315-7267.
