The Research On The Practice Of Project-Based Learning In High School Physics Aimed At Developing Higher-Order Thinking Skills

The rise of the "artificial intelligence" era continues to inspire the innovation of human production,thinking,and learning methods.Rapidly developing countries and societies have raised higher requirements for future talents,demanding advanced personnel for critical technologies,which in turn require special training and higher-order thinking skills.The 2022 version of the "Physical Education Curriculum Standards for Compulsory Education" issued by the Ministry of Education also permeates the requirement to cultivate students’ high-order thinking skills.Project-based learning,which focuses on learners,allows them to deepen their understanding and integration of core concepts in real and purposeful explorations and collaborative practices,gain broader and more solid knowledge foundations,and improve their high-order thinking and practical abilities,such as problem-solving ability,innovation ability,critical thinking ability,and decision-making ability.Based on reading and analyzing literature related to higher-order thinking skills and project-based learning,this study aims to cultivate students’ higher-order thinking skills in physics.Drawing on constructivist learning theory,Dewey’s pragmatist education theory,Bruner’s discovery learning theory,and the structure and characteristics of high school physics courses,this study explores and analyzes the specific connotations and indicators of higher-order thinking skills in physics,and adapts and develops a highly reliable and valid questionnaire to evaluate students’ higher-order thinking skills.Using a questionnaire survey method,this study conducted research on students from three county-level high schools in the western part of Henan Province,and obtained the current situation of students’ higher-order thinking skills in physics.In addition,by conducting interviews with frontline physics teachers,the study also investigated the current situation of cultivating higher-order thinking skills in high school physics teaching.Furthermore,this study constructed a project-based learning theoretical model to cultivate students’ higher-order thinking skills,including five steps: Creating Situations,Cooperative Inquiry,Presentation of Learning Achievements,Comprehensive Evaluation,and Reflection-Transfer Learning.Based on the project-based learning theoretical model,three project-based learning cases,namely "Timed Competition," "Self-made Earthquake Early Warning Device," and "Revealing the Magic Polarization Phenomenon," were designed and taught to high school students in L School in Luoyang City.After teaching practice,the actual teaching effect of project-based learning was compared with that of conventional teaching modes through the analysis of differences in students’ higher-order thinking skills evaluation questionnaire and physics performance,aiming to verify whether project-based learning can cultivate students’ higher-order thinking skills in physics.The main research conclusions are as follows: 1.Through the questionnaire survey research,the data obtained show that students’ higher-order thinking skills in physics in county-level high schools in western Henan Province needs to be improved,and it is currently showing an upward trend.2.In high school physics teaching,project-based learning,which cultivate higher-order thinking skills,is feasible and beneficial for cultivating students’ higher-order thinking skills.In particular,the training effect on students’ analytical and evaluative abilities is the most significant,while the effect on students’ problem-solving and innovative thinking abilities is good,and the effect on students’ critical thinking and decision-making abilities is relatively weak.