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Does Exposure to Problem-Based Learning Strategies Increase DOES EXPOSURE TO PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING STRATEGIES INCREASE POSTFORMAL THOUGHT AND NEED FOR COGNITION IN HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENTS? A QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL STUDY by Angelina Lapina, M.A, B.A. A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Council of Texas State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy with a Major in Adult, Professional and Community Education August 2020 Committee Members: Joellen E. Coryell, Chair Larry R. Price, Co-Chair Ann K. Brooks Clarena Larrotta COPYRIGHT by Angelina Lapina 2020 FAIR USE AND AUTHOR’S PERMISSION STATEMENT Fair Use This work is protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States (Public Law 94-553, section 107). Consistent with fair use as defined in the Copyright Laws, brief quotations from this material are allowed with proper acknowledgement. Use of this material for financial gain without the author’s express written permission is not allowed. Duplication Permission As the copyright holder of this work I, Angelina Lapina, authorize duplication of this work, in whole or in part, for educational or scholarly purposes only. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would first and foremost like to thank my Chair Dr. Coryell and my Co-Chair Dr. Price whose contributions significantly shaped the end-product of this work. I would like thank Dr. Coryell for being a wonderful professor, advisor, and friend! It has been a pleasure to interact and collaborate with you. I would also like to thank Dr. Price whose helpful hands-on training made this quantitative study possible. Both of you have demonstrated a tremendous amount of dedication to the dissertation work. Further, I would like to thank my committee members, Dr. Larrotta and Dr. Brooks. Each of you has provided me with support and multifaceted feedback for which I am extremely grateful! Considering the achievements of all my committee members, I am proud to have all four names printed on my dissertation document. I also want to thank my Mom who has been helping me daily with child care, enabling me to complete this work while maintaining my sanity. My husband deserves a large degree of gratitude for his consistent support and encouragement from the moment I joined the APCE program. Thank you for your constant love and support. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...............................................................................................iv LIST OF TABLES ...........................................................................................................vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS..........................................................................................viii ABSTRACT.......................................................................................................................ix CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................1 Statement of the Problem .................................................................................6 Purpose of the Study ........................................................................................7 Research Questions and Hypotheses ...............................................................8 Significance of the Study .................................................................................9 Assumptions and Positionality .......................................................................10 Operational Terms and Definitions ................................................................12 Summary ........................................................................................................16 II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE............................................................................18 Parameters of the Review ..............................................................................20 Related Theoretical Frameworks ...................................................................22 Postformal Thought .......................................................................................24 The Role of Metacognition in Higher Education Adult Learners..................31 Need for Cognition ........................................................................................34 Problem-based Learning- The Independent Variable ....................................37 Quantitative and Mixed-Methods Studies: Problem-based Learning and Higher Order Reasoning Skills ......................................................................39 Qualitative Studies: Cognitive and Practical Implications of Problem-based Learning .........................................................................................................53 Studies with Inconclusive or Non-significant Findings .................................57 Summary and Analysis of Literature Findings and Research Design ...........60 III. METHODS......................................................................................................66 v Overview and Rationale of Design ................................................................66 Research Questions and Hypotheses .............................................................67 Population of the Study ..................................................................................68 The Sample and Sampling Procedure ...................................................69 Constructs and Instrumentation .....................................................................73 Demographic Data and Other Characteristics of the Survey ...............73 Need for Cognition Scale .....................................................................78 Postformal Thought Questionnaire ......................................................79 Data Collection ..............................................................................................82 Ethical Considerations ........................................................................82 Potential Threats to Internal Validity ..................................................83 Data Preparation.............................................................................................86 Quantitative Data Analysis .................................................................87 Operational Definitions of Research Variables .............................................87 Postformal Thought ...........................................................................88 Need for Cognition ............................................................................88 Procedure for Testing Hypotheses and Answering Research Questions .......89 Summary ........................................................................................................90 IV. RESULTS........................................................................................................91 Participants by Group.....................................................................................91 Assumptions....................................................................................................93 Data Screening................................................................................................95 ANOVA Results..............................................................................................96 Summary .......................................................................................................105 V. DISCUSSION.................................................................................................107 Interpretation of Results...............................................................................109 Implications for Theory................................................................................114 Implications for Adult Higher Education Practice.......................................116 Implications for University Policy...............................................................121 Delimitations................................................................................................122 Limitations...................................................................................................123 Recommendations for Future Research.......................................................124 Conclusion....................................................................................................125 APPENDIX SECTION…................................................................................................127 REFERENCES................................................................................................................138 vi LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Sociodemographic Characteristics of Participants at Baseline......................................92 2. Descriptive Statistics for Covariates by Study Group...................................................97 3. Means, Standard Deviations, and One-Way Analyses of Variance in NFC, PFT and PFT at Item-Level Between Groups……………………......................................99 4. Interaction Effects Between Need for Cognition and PFT Items by Study Group...................................................................................................................101 5. Interaction Effects Between Covariates and NFC by Study Group.............................102 6. Interaction Effects Between Covariates and PFT at Item-level by Study Group..................................................................................................................104 vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviation Description PBL Problem-based Learning
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