The influence of problem based learning on students’ generic skill

Many countries have embraced formal education to confront illiteracy and unemployment within their society.This is because one major advantage of formal education is the transfer of generic skills which is the cognitive strategies and domain independent knowledge. Generic skills are vital today because life and workplaces are in flux and are getting more complex which requires initiative, emotional mastery, flexibility, creativity, and the ability to take on many different tasks (involve learning by doing and experience).However, many students are found to be deficient of this skill which is making them unfit for the labour market and unattractive to employers.In addition, very few schools teach generic skills which are making students unable to develop them and be employable attractive to employers. Therefore, this study investigates the impact of generic skills using problem-based learning (PBL).This paper represents the first part of the study, which is to investigate the influence of students’ PBL on their generic skills This paper makes used of action research method, while quantitative research approach using both survey and documentation is employed for the study data collection.The study finding show that there is a significant influence on problem-based learning (PBL) and generic skills (GS).Similar significant influence is found on critical thinking (CT) and generic skills (GS).It was further pointed out that there is no disparity on students’ gender and academic background (science and non-science) with their generic skills.This implies that problem-based learning (PBL) and critical thinking (CT) enhances students’ generic skills