Project-Based Learning in Science: Effects On Students' Science Process and 21st - Century Skills
Project-Based Learning in Science: Effects On Students' Science Process and 21st - Century Skills
learning and the future workforce, resilience has yet to sought to answer the following questions:
be fully integrated into a 21CS framework.
1. What preferred priority topics in Grade 11 Earth
Adapting to these kinds of situations should trigger the Science could be developed into Project-Based
update of 21st-century skills and their framework. Learning activity plan as perceived by the Science
Now that the schools are gradually opening and teacher respondents?
welcoming the students and teachers, it is necessary to 2. What is the extent of integration of Project-Based
make modifications to the methods and strategies of Learning in teaching Grade 11 Earth Science based on
teachers to catch up on the rising demand for digital the gold standard PBL framework as perceived by
and socio-emotional skills. Using a variety of methods Science experts and teacher respondents?
to determine which one can best develop these skills is 3. Is there a significant difference between the
vital to every teacher. The one method that is now perception of the two groups of respondents on the
popular, though it is not a new method, is the project- extent of integration of PBL in teaching Grade 11
based learning (PBL) method. Science using the Gold Standard PBL framework?
4. What is the level of the students' Science process
PBL starts at the onset of the semester, the teacher will skills based on the pretest and posttest before and after
ask the students to give a driving question (not the implementation of Project-based Learning in terms
answerable by yes/no and should be based on his/her of:
experience in the environment/surroundings) and from 4.1 Observation;
there, they will be the one to investigate and analyze a 4.2 Classification;
problem, and to think of a solution. The final product 4.3 Measurement;
is presented at the end of the semester. It is very 4.4 Inference;
different from the usual "school project" or "activity" 4.5 Prediction; and
where it can be done in a short period of time. PBL 4.6 Critical thinking?
takes some time to be accomplished since the students 5. Is there a significant difference between the pretest
will be involved in the community, learn from it and and posttest scores of the Grade 11 students?
be part of the solution. 6. What is the level of the students' 21st-century skills
based on the ethnographic evaluation of the teachers in
Project-based learning is also used in the Philippines. the implementation of Project-Based Learning?
Though not widely used, the idea relative to PBL is 7. What are the comments and feedback of the teacher
seen. The current curriculum used by the Department respondents on the implementation of Project-Based
of Education (DepEd) in the K-12 curriculum is Learning?
student-centered and built around the needs of the
learners and the community. This is the same as the
goal of the PBL. However, it is not directly applied.
Literature Review
As mentioned, PBL is different from the usual "school
projects" or "classroom activities" which are the ones Project-based learning (PBL) is not a newly
commonly seen in the lesson plan. Though the PBL discovered approach, rather it is an existing approach
teaching method still includes the traditional lectures, that started over a hundred years ago. The idea
the project is focused mainly on learning by originally came from John Dewey regarding the
experience which will give the students a deeper engagement of learners in real-life and meaningful
understanding and knowledge about the subjects they tasks and problems that emulate how experts strive in
are studying. It also includes thorough research, real-world situations. Project-based learning
critical thinking, and analysis. In this regard, the sometimes referred to as "experiential learning" or
researcher attempted to determine the effects of PBL "situated learning" which boils down to a specific idea
on the improvement of the Grade 11 students' Science that students learn best when they experience it.
process and 21st-century skills. Looking at the current status of PBL, a lot of schools
and institutions worldwide are directly adapting it.
Research Questions They are integrating it into the curriculum and studied
the comparison to the one they are using (Terada,
This study aimed to determine the effects of 2021).
integrating Project-based learning (PBL) on the
Science Process Skills and 21st-century Skills of The schools that integrated PBL in their curriculum
Grade 11 students at Rizal High School in Pasig City have shared their experiences. Fultz (2021) stated that
during school year 2022-2023. Specifically, this study social sciences and STEM classes can be integrated
using the PBL approach. Learners can get the issues Moreover, they revealed that in one project, it was
and problems of society through their lectures (social clear that learner-centered, constructivist, and
science) and then follow scientific process to reflective methods to teaching and learning promoted
investigate them and offer a solution. Additionally, all 4Cs.
PBL cannot only be applied in high school but also
early education and lower grade levels. Terada (2021) Another reviewed study, conducted by Bhakti, et al.
quoted the words of Barbara Schneider, a professor, (2020) proved that PBL is effective in improving the
that PBL in Science showed consistent remarkable Science process skills of STEM students. They aimed
results across elementary and secondary schools in to investigate the influence of Project-Based Learning
Science achievement.Aside from the Science Process that integrates with science, technology, engineering,
Skills (SPS) that educators want to enhance using and Mathematics (STEM) in improving the students’
PBL, another target is the 21st-century skills (21CS). Science process skills. They used an observation sheet
In today’s generation, learners are expected to be and a subjective test through experimental method.
equipped with these skills. Without these, they will Their findings revealed that learners had all indications
struggle to compete with other people especially if of Science process skills (SPS) that are in the good
they want to work abroad. Swartz (2020) explained group. Learners respond positively to learning because
that finding answers through the PBL process involves they feel more understood, which increases motivation
all the 4C’s of 21CS. and enthusiasm in studying. Aside from the mentioned
instruments, they also used tests in determining the
Moreover, it was mentioned that PBL is mostly done level of students Science process skills.Sitompul and
in groups which means that they must have good Mursid (2020), used the same method of one-group
teamwork. Teamwork or collaboration is one of the pretest/posttest, quasi-experimental research and in
abilities in 21CS. Carreño (2018) assessed that one of Science subject in their study that aimed to determine
the disadvantages of PBL is groupings. He said that the effect of applying Project-Based Learning
students who are not into socialization or have no approach on the students’ Science process skills on the
experience in group work may have difficulties with material structure of animal and plant cells. Using t-
communication. On the contrary, McDowell (2020) & test as the statistical analysis tool, they revealed
Rubrica (2018) argued that since PBL is mostly undeniably PBL is effective in enhancing the SPS of
collaborative, it helps the learners (especially the learners.
introverts) to build their confidence in communication
from smaller groups to classroom-size discussions. Moreover, the quasi-experimental research of
PBL includes sharing ideas not just within the group Delostrico (2019) aimed to established what PBL
but also with other people which would expose the approach in teaching Chemistry can contribute to
learners to other people's feedback. This sharing of learner’s skills. He compared PBL to the conventional
ideas can fall under the communication ability under approach of teaching using tests. Using the t-test and z-
both SPS and 21CS.The study of Triana, Anggraito & test formula, the results showed that PBL is an
Ridlo (2019) aimed to analyze the effectiveness of effective approach in teaching Chemistry since the
environmental change learning tools based on Project- learners showed improvement in academic
Based Learning on students' 4C skills. They utilized performance.Lastly, the study done by Apritado, et al.
the one-group pretest-posttest design and used (2022) assessed PBL as an approach to facilitating the
syllabus, lesson plans, teaching materials, student experiential learning in Science instruction of the
worksheets and evaluation tools as research private secondary institutions. They used a self-made
instruments. The findings of this study revealed that questionnaire validated by experts to evaluate the
learning tools based on STEM-PBL were effective teachers who used the PBL approach. To analyze the
against students' 4C skills. results, they used standard deviation and weighted
mean. It was revealed that PBL approach helped
Focusing on the 4Cs as well, the study of Budiarti, teachers learn and utilize different management
Ferguson-Patrick, Macqueen, & Reynolds (2021) processes and strategies in the real world as they
aimed to identify Project Based Learning in accomplish their projects.
extracurricular activities as a promising method to
incorporating the 4Cs in an authentic and sustainable Methodology
manner. Their respondents are teachers and students
and these two sets had different views of their level of
attainment of the 4Cs. Their results showed that the This study used the explanatory sequential design
global PBL method enhanced the teacher planning. which is a four-phase mixed method design that is
usually used when the researcher wants to support the researcher only selected one (1) section from the said
quantitative results of the initial phase. Edmonds and level that has Earth and Life Science as their subject in
Kennedy (2017) explained that when a researcher the first semester of School Year 2022-2023.Also, in
wants to follow up on quantitative findings with the last phase, 30 Science teachers from the same SDO
qualitative data, an explanatory design is used. As a assessed the 21st-century skills of students during the
result, the qualitative data is used in the interpretation implementation of PBL in their Science subject
and clarification of the quantitative data analysis through the files sent to them. Moreover, they also
results. In many cases, a generic qualitative design is answered the interview questions included in the same
used in explanatory techniques because the evaluation form.
quantitative design is the focus.
Instruments of the Study
For the quantitative type, there were four (4) phases
where the researcher used different design for each This study used six (6) research instruments in
phase. The first one is the survey design. In this phase, gathering data from the selected participants.The
preferred priority topics of teachers for the subject researcher asked the selected Science teachers about
Earth and Life Science were identified. Survey their preferred priority topics in Earth Science using
research refers to the process of gathering data from a the priority agenda checklist. The survey included the
group of people by asking them questions. Next, is the agenda from different reliable sources like Department
evaluation design. Ten (10) Science experts (Master of Science and Technology and NASA. Additionally,
Teachers) and 20 Science teachers (Teacher I to III) the curriculum guide for Earth and Life Science from
assessed the extent of integration of PBL in Grade 11 the Department of Education was attached for their
Science through the PBL lesson plan. The third phase reference (Appendix D).Another instrument was the
for quantitative design is the one-group pretest-posttest evaluation tool for the PBL activity plan. The
design which is a type of pre-experimental research. In researcher used the 7 steps in the Gold Standard PBL
this design, the outcome of interest is measured twice: framework for project design elements which are:
once before and once after a non-random set of designing and planning, aligning to standards, building
p a r t i c i p a n t s is e x p o s e d to a s p e c i f i c the culture, managing activities, scaffolding student
intervention/treatment, which is the Project-based learning, assessing student learning, and engaging and
learning approach. The last phase was the coaching.Also, the researcher created a pretest and
ethnographic evaluation design. In this phase, the posttest aligned with the results of the first instrument
teachers assessed the 21st-century skills of the students on the preferred priority topics in Earth Science and
during the implementation of the PBL in Grade 11 Department of Education’s learning competencies and
Science through video clips. Classroom ethnography curriculum guide for Earth Science. There was a
was used in this phase. This was carried out by supporting table of specification (TOS) for the tests.
watching the recorded class discussions, reading the Moreover, these tests have 25 questions each that
projects, and photos, and observed the students’ 21st- measured the Science Process Skills of the
century skills. For the qualitative phase, the researcher students.More so, to determine the level of the
included the interview questions on the last instrument students’ 21st-century skills, the researcher created an
(ethnographic evaluation) to collect their comments ethnographic evaluation tool. This is a Likert scale-
and feedback on the implementation of PBL in Grade type questions that is based on the 4C’s of 21Cs. Each
11 Science. 21st-century skill has 4 statements that describes the
skill. The interview guide was attached or included in
Participants of the Study the last part of ethnographic evaluation. These were
interview questions about their comments and
For phase 1 of quantitative design, the researcher feedback on the integration of PBL in Earth and Life
selected 20 Science teachers to answer the survey on Science. There were five open-ended questions
their preferred priority topics in Earth and Life included in this instrument.
Science. They are the Science teachers from the
Schools Division Office (SDO) of Pasig City.For the Procedure
second phase, the researcher selected 10 Science
experts (Master Teachers and Head Teachers) and Before the implementation of the proposed teaching
another 20 Science teachers (Teacher I to Teacher III) method, and the distribution of any of the research
to assess the PBL activity plan using the Gold instruments, the researcher sought the approval of the
Standard PBL framework.For phase 3, the respondents Schools Division Office of Pasig City first through
were Grade 11 students of Rizal High School. The their online portal to conduct this thesis in Rizal High
School. After the approval, another permission letter recording of the class were stored in a password-
was sent to the School Principal, to allow the protected cloud storage that was only shared to experts
researcher to use the senior high school students as included in this study.
participants in this study. Once approved, the
researcher started the distribution of the letter of
consent to all the parents of the selected respondents Results and Discussion
before starting the implementation.The first step for
this study was the survey on the preferred priority Preferred Priority Topics in Grade 11 Earth
topics of Science teacher respondents in Earth Science.
Science as Perceived by Science Teachers
Their answers were analyzed using weighted mean and
were used as choices of students in proposing their Table 1. Preferred Priority Topics in Earth Science as
projects. The results were also used in creating the
Perceived by the Science Teachers
pretest/posttest for students. From the preferred
priority topics, the students proposed projects and from
those projects, the researcher created the PBL activity
plan. The activity plan was evaluated by selected
Science experts and teachers. After the evaluation, the
implementation of the PBL in class started.
Simultaneously, the researcher analyzed the results of
the PBL lesson plan evaluation and compared the
ratings of the Science teacher-respondents.A pretest
for Earth Science was initially administered and the
data were recorded. After that, the researcher applied
the PBL approach together with the traditional class
discussion and with the guidance of the PBL lesson
plan and weekly home learning plan. Aside from the
quarterly exams and written works, which were the
main measurement of their mastery, the researcher also
administered the posttest to determine the
improvement of the scores from the pretest. After the
posttest, the scores were analyzed and compared to
determine if there were improvements in their
scores.Moreover, the class discussion on the priority
agenda were recorded by the researcher for the Science
teachers to evaluate the integration of PBL to Earth
Science. They were also asked to give feedback on the
said implementation. In summary, though all the main topics got the same
verbal interpretation of Extremely Preferred, it was
Ethical Considerations clearly shown that the third topic, Natural Hazards,
Mitigation, and Adaptation, got the highest general
As part of the ethical procedure, when recruiting weighted mean of 3.93. This result is aligned with all the
respondents for this study, the researcher made it clear research priorities of the sources mentioned on the onset
of the interpretation and on the existing issues the
to all possible participants that they have complete
Philippines are preparing like the preparation on the
freedom to choose whether or not to participate, and Big One, the continuous earthquakes from the different
that they can withdraw from the study at any moment parts of the country, and the regular hazards that the
with no negative consequences.When the list of country face because it its geological location. In the
participants was final, the consent was sent to parents DOST’s harmonized national research and development
after meeting them. The researcher discussed the goal agenda document (2017-2022, pp.40-45), the Sendai
of the study, the risks and benefits of taking part in the framework for disaster risk reduction for 2015 to 2030
study, how long the study would take, and the privacy where the priorities on monitoring and forecasting;
of the data to be collected. They were also informed hazard risk assessment; warning; and proper and timely
response were on the list. Moreover, the result means
that they can withdraw the information of their
that the projects of the selected participants should be
son/daughter by contacting the research or the school under this topic.
head.To be detailed in the data privacy, their shared
information like demographic profile, test scores and
Table 2. Extent of integration of PBL lesson plan as Table 3 shows the Welch’s t-test analysis of the
evaluated by Science experts and Science teachers gathered rating from the Science experts and Science
. teachers using SPSS. Table 3 shows that the null
hypothesis was retained having a p-value of 0.703
which is greater than 0.05. It means that there is no
significant difference between the mean score of the
Science experts and Science teachers on the
integration of PBL in teaching Grade 11 Science using
the Gold standard PBL framework.
Table 6 shows that the data in the level of Grade 11 Based on the results in Table 7, the collaboration skill
students’ communication skills is Highly Proficient of Grade 11 students is Highly Proficient (HP) based
(HP) as evidenced by the overall weighted mean rating on the overall weighted mean rating of 3.58. The
of 3.40. teacher respondents observed this skill through the
students’ group meetings and presentations.
In the provided videos and notes, the Science teachers
were able to observe their communication skills. They mentioned that the students looked serious
Through the students’ recitation, group meetings and during their group meetings and that most of the
planning stage, they were able to share their thoughts members were able to share their thoughts. The
and ideas to their groupmates and to their classmates confidence they gained in the group meetings, where
with confidence. Moreover, these were observed they freely share their ideas, was also reflected in the
whenever they share the updates of their project in class presentation.
front of the class. The listeners were able to understand
their sharing since they communicate the information
effectively.
It can be seen in Table 8 that the students’ level of Comments and Feedback of Teachers on the
critical thinking skill as rated by the Science teacher Implementation of Project-Based Learning
respondents is Highly Proficient (HP) as evidenced by
the overall weighted mean rating of 3.41. This may From respondents’ answers in the interview questions
mean that PBL is indeed helpful in developing the included in the ethnographic evaluation form, four (4)
critical thinking skills of learners. themes emerged. The themes are: a lot of groupings
time, can be implemented in other subjects, interesting,
Table 9. Students’ Level of Creativity Based on the and want to receive training about PBL.
Ethnographic Evaluation
A Lot of Grouping Time
while they are exploring their own understanding of implemented or used.” – Teacher-respondent #2
the key concepts.” –Teacher-respondent #6 “… it can be used since it is effective and
improvements can be made when this will be presented
Can be Implemented in other Subjects to the faculty.” –Teacher-respondent #1
The teachers are interested in using PBL in their own Based on the interview answers, the respondents
class and also suggested that it can be used in other observed the improvement in the students SPS and
subjects other than Science. Since they observed that 21CS which is crucial in students’ learning process.
PBL has improved the 21CS of the learners, they They are interested in trying this teaching approach
thought of continuously using it to make a huge though they emphasized that they must have a training
improvement to students. first to implement it accordingly in their classes.
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ng-work-during-distance-learning. Affiliations and Corresponding Information