Gender-Sensitive Effect of Problem-Based Learning on Student Performance in Indonesian Teacher College Classes

To restore the quality of education, the 2013 curriculum reform in Indonesia urged teachers to employ pupil-centered, thematic problem-based learning (PBL). This study examined whether the PBL collaborative learning enabled students to learn better and in an equal manner through an array of cross-cutting aspects like race, social class, and gender. The presented study involved two teacher colleges and randomly assigned undergraduate classes that were taught with the use of PBL practices while other comparable classes were taught through traditional lecturing. It was found that the students in the experimental group performed better and more equalized than those in the other group. This is to assist the teacher colleges to teach their student-teachers to design and practice more engaging classes where boys and girls are given equal chances to foster their potentials to the fullest.

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