The Effect of Problem-Based Learning on Middle School Students’ Problem-Solving Skills: The Content Area of Probability

This study investigated the effect of the problem-based learning (PBL) approach on the problem-solving skills of middle school students as they learned about probability, a content area of eighth-grade curriculum. The research was carried out in the 2018–2019 academic year. The study group consisted of 39 eighth-grade students (14 female and 25 male students) studying at a middle school located in a province in the northern part of the Black Sea Region of Türkiye. Data collection tools included the equivalence test (ET), the problem-solving test (PST), the Semi-Structured Interview Form (SSIF), and scenarios and activities prepared for the experimental group (EG). Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 22.0 statistical software was used for data analysis. Analyses were performed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test for paired samples and the Mann-Whitney U Test. The results showed that the problem-solving skills of the EG students, who were taught using the PBL approach, were better than those of the control group (CG) students, who were taught using traditional expository teaching. Therefore, in mathematics teaching, PBL is the recommended approach to support students’ problem-solving process in the mathematics curriculum.