A global pandemic didn’t stop a WKU SKyTeach research project from reaching a global audience.
WKU senior Kacie Gaekle of Louisville presented the problem-based instruction (PBI) project earlier this month as part of the STEM Conference 2020 in Singapore. The research, conducted by Gaekle and senior Morgan Whiticker of Westmoreland, Tennessee, focused on using PBI in high school biology classrooms as a form of instruction.
The future biology teachers developed and implemented the unit on photosynthesis during their capstone course, SMED 470 Problem-Based Instruction.
“We created a PBI unit about photosynthesis and taught it to a high school biology class at South Warren High School,” said Gaekle, who is majoring in Biology and Science and Math Education. “Upon completing the unit, we were then able to compare the test scores of students involved in the PBI unit and those who were not to see the effects of this type of instruction.”
Gaekle said the results showed a slightly higher average score for the students in three classes who received the PBI unit vs. the students in two classes who did not.
“The classrooms were consistently filled with discussion, cooperative learning, and students who were actively engaged in the lessons,” said Whiticker, who is majoring in Biology and Secondary Education. “That helped us to see that we had met our goal of creating a student-centered unit that allowed for engaging, authentic learning.”
