Investigation of the effects of problem based education (PBT) on teaching of "insufficiencies of classical physics" in quantum physics

The purpose of this research is to investigate the effects of Problem Based Learning on conceptual understanding levels of teacher candidates and their critical thinking attitudes in the Lack of Classical Physics subject (Black Body Image, Photoelectric Event and Compton Scatter) of quantum physics which students have difficulty to associate with everyday life. In this study, pre-test and post test control group designs which are semi-experimental research models were used. Lessons were educated using the problem based learning method in the experimental group and the traditional teaching method using the lecture material developed by the researcher in the control group. The experimental group consists of teacher candidates who have similar qualifications in the A and B branches of pre-service Science Teacher at a State University in Turkey. The data collection tool used to determine the level of conceptual understanding of the study group is Lack of Classical Physics Conceptual Understanding Test (LCPCUT) developed by the researcher during the fall semester of 2017-2018. The data collection tool used to measure the critical thinking attitude in the study is Critical Thinking Attitudes Scale (CTAS). SPSS 22 program was used for the statistical analysis of the data obtained in the research and Independent Sample T-Test, Related Sample T-Test, Mann-Whitney U test, Wilcoxon Marked Rank test was used. At the end of the study, it was concluded that both teaching methods improved the conceptual understanding levels positively but that the conceptual understanding levels of the experimental group were better than the control group students and that the problem based learning method had better effect on the conceptual understanding than the traditional teaching method. In all three stages of the three-stage KFYKAT, it was observed that both the experimental group and the control group students were statistically significantly better at the end of the application, but the students in the experimental group had significantly higher scores than the control group students at each stage. In addition, when pre-test and post-test scores of EDTÖ were analysed, it was found that there was no meaningful difference between pre-and post-implementation critical thinking attitudes of the two groups, and problem based learning method and traditional teaching method had no effect on students' critical thinking attitude. This study is important and indispensable for the implementation of the problem based learning method in the quantum physics lesson, which is one of the most critical situations that makes learning difficult to relate to everyday life.