Effectiveness of the problem-based learning approach: A meta-analysis study

The purpose of the current study is to determine the effect of the problem-based learning (PBL) approach on students' academic achievement and attitudes towards the course through the meta-analysis method. To this end, a literature review of national and international studies was made. Master's theses, doctoral theses and articles published in the period between 2010 and 2020, meeting the criteria of inclusion in a meta-analysis study and having the adequate statistical data were found from national and international data bases and then analyzed. In the collection of the data, a coding form prepared by the researcher in line with the criteria of inclusion was used. As a result of the literature review, it was concluded that a total of 77 studies on academic achievement and 30 studies on attitudes towards the course met the criteria of inclusion. The dependent variables of the current study are the effect sizes of the PBL approach on academic achievement and attitudes towards the course and the independent variables are grade level and type of publication. In the analysis of the collected data, Comprehensive Meta Analysis v3.0 (CMA) statistical program package was used to calculate the effect sizes of the studies and the general effect size. According to the results of the study, the PBL method has a positive and large effect (ES=0.979) on academic achievement and has a positive and small effect (ES=0.426) on attitudes towards the course. Moreover, the effect size values of the PBL approach on academic achievement and attitudes towards the course were compared according to grade level and type of publication. The effect size values of the PBL approach on academic achievement and attitudes towards the course were found to be not varying depending on grade level and type of publication. In light of the obtained findings, suggestions were made for practice and research. Key Words: Academic Achievement, Attitude, Meta-Analysis, Problem-Based Learning (PBL) Approach.