This study aims to comprehensively examine the influence of the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) model integrated with the Internet of Things (IoT) on enhancing students’ problem-solving abilities in physics education. The integration of IoT into PBL is seen as a progressive approach to address the growing demand for innovative instructional strategies that promote higher-order thinking skills. A quantitative approach was adopted, utilizing a quasi-experimental design with a pretest-posttest nonequivalent control group format to assess the effectiveness of the intervention. The participants were 25 undergraduate physics students from the University of West Sulawesi, selected through saturated sampling due to the limited population size. To evaluate students’ problem-solving skills, data were collected using structured written tests designed around five key indicators: understanding the problem, describing the problem, planning the solution, executing the solution, and evaluating the results. Prior to hypothesis testing, normality of the data was assessed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, followed by paired sample t-tests with IBM SPSS Statistics 23 to determine the significance of differences in pretest and posttest scores. The findings revealed a statistically significant improvement in students’ problem-solving skills following the implementation of the IoT-based PBL model, with results showing significance at the 5% level and gain scores classified as effective. These outcomes demonstrate the potential of the PBL-IoT integration to foster critical thinking and improve educational quality. Therefore, the implementation of this instructional model is recommended for physics educators seeking to enhance student engagement, problem-solving proficiency, and learning outcomes through the integration of emerging technologies.
Sagala et al. (Mon,) studied this question.