THE IMPACT OF PROBLEM-BASED INSTRUCTION ON STUDENTS’ ACTIVITY IN SCIENCE CLASSES

Sa？etak The starting point of our research was the realisation that different students learn in different ways and that current models and types of instruction do not allow the greatest number of children to gain knowledge in an active and quality way. Problem-based instruction, through which students discover what they need learn, how to develop personal and communication skills, presents an alternative to traditional frontal instruction. The objective of this research is to determine whether there is a connection between problem-based instruction and students’ activity in the process of knowledge acquisition, in relation to frontal instruction and students’ activity in the process of acquiring knowledge. The conducted research discusses and associates problem-based instruction and students’ activity in Science classes, in relation to activities in frontal instruction, the established body of knowledge, teachers’ attitudes towards organizing problem-based classes and advantages of problem-oriented instruction in Science classes. For the purposes of the empirical part of the research, we have designed a survey for teachers. Based on the results obtained in initial and final tests, we have compared the achievements accomplished through problem-based instruction with the accomplishments of traditional instruction. The results were analysed by the SPSS programme package. The t-test was used to check the hypothesis