In our graduation research program based on the Project-based Learning(PBL), many students found it difficult to find what they should do to solve problems. So, a preparatory PBL(pre-PBL) program for junior students was devised to induce them to act autonomously in the PBL graduation research. This pre-PBL is called "Candle Thermodynamics" . The following results were derived from the investigation of this pre-PBL Program.
(1)Students attending this pre-PBL program succeeded in acting autonomously and finding ways of solving problems in graduation research PBL.
(2)The senior students, attending the contest of the pre-PBL as audiences, can recognize the obvious outcomes of their training; they improved greatly in their thinking and attitudes.
(3)The pre-PBL program assigned to the junior students gave them a very good timing and chance to adapt what they had learned into practice. It has been proved to be a very effective teaching method in the sense that students can gain creativity and independence in the process and method of their problem solving.
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