Abstract:

Different methods are needed in the field of vocational education to ensure that students associate the knowledge they have learned with real-life situations. Considering that problem-based learning (PBL) techniques also have important effects in the context of human values, this study aimed to investigate the effects of PBL models on high school students' human values. A mixed-method approach and expansive sequential pattern were used. Quantitative data were obtained through a quasi-experimental method that employed the Human Values Scale as a measurement tool, applied to 32 vocational and technical high school students in Turkey. In the qualitative dimension, focus group interviews were conducted with six student participants. Non-parametric statistical techniques and content analysis were performed, and results showed that there was a strong relationship between the PBL model and students’ human values; human values were positively affected and increased in all but one of the scale items. It was concluded that PBL can result in high-level learning outcomes and has a positive effect on learning and human values in general.

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