Problem-Based Learning to Strengthen Logical Thinking in High School Students of an Educational Unit in Daule, 2026
Keywords:
Problem-based learning, logical thinking, secondary education, active methodology, problem-solving, sport.Abstract
The persistence of transmissive methodologies in Ecuadorian high school education limits the development of higher-order cognitive skills, including logical thinking, a cross-cutting competence whose impact extends beyond the classroom and reaches decision-making in sports and physical activity contexts. This study aimed to demonstrate the effect of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) on strengthening the logical thinking of high school students from an Educational Unit in the Daule canton during 2026. A quantitative, applied approach was adopted, with a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design and a control group. The sample consisted of 68 students evenly distributed into a control group (n = 34) and an experimental group (n = 34), selected through intentional non-probabilistic sampling. A 30-item Likert-scale questionnaire was applied, validated by five experts and with a Cronbach’s alpha reliability of 0.91. The intervention program, called LOGIC-ABP: Building Intelligent Solutions, was structured into twelve sessions over six weeks. Post-test results showed that 85.3% of the experimental group reached the good level of logical thinking, compared to 2.9% of the control group. The Mann-Whitney U test confirmed significant differences between both groups (U = 24.500; Z = –6.792; p < 0.001), while the Wilcoxon test confirmed intra-group changes in the experimental group (Z = –5.089; p < 0.001). The effect size, estimated using Cohen’s d, was 4.57, indicating a large magnitude of change. It is concluded that PBL significantly strengthens logical thinking and its dimensions of organization, problem-solving, and data and graph interpretation. These findings support the progressive incorporation of active methodologies in high school pedagogical planning and suggest their potential transfer to sports teaching, where reading situations, anticipation, and response selection require analogous logical processes.
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