The Effectiveness of Hybrid and Pure Problem-Based Learning in the Productive Skills and Critical Thinking of Iranian Undergraduate Students through MALL Application

Hybrid problem-based learning (HPBL) as a learner-oriented method involves learning through collaboration while finding solutions to real-world problems. It has been employed in the education of English as a foreign language (EFL) students recently. Implementation of it in an EFL classroom, though might be a challenging task, has been approved a useful method for improving learning of the students. The current study, using a quasi-experimental design, IELTS pretests-posttests, and Honey’s critical thinking questionnaire, attempted to find out the effectiveness of HPBL method in the productive skills and critical thinking of the students by implementing it in an EFL classroom using eight teacher’s made problems through Mobile Assisted Language Learn (MALL) application. The subjects were 60 Iranian undergraduates grouped as one control group (CG) being instructed based on the traditional lecture-based method and two experimental groups being instructed based on HPBL and Pure Problem-Based Learning (PPBL) methods conveniently. Findings of one-way MANOVA, one-sample, and paired-samples t-test revealed that HPBL students had significantly higher mean scores than the PPBL students who were in turn superior to their CG counterparts in terms of productive skills and critical thinking. This study has the potential to advance new ideas and perceptions which can be implemented by EFL learners in improving the productive skills and critical thinking of the learners. Therefore, the findings might bear implications for students, teachers, university curriculum designers, and decision-makers to design more effective curriculums for the teaching of productive skills to the students.