ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Educational Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1447089
A Case Study on Developing Students' Problem-Solving Skills through Interdisciplinary Thematic Learning
Provisionally accepted
- 1Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China
- 2Wuhuang middle school, Ziyang Sichuan, China, Ziyang Sichuan, China
- 3Chengdu Mianshi Foreign Language School, Chengdu Sichuan, China, Chengdu Sichuan, China
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Interdisciplinary thematic learning, driven by thematic tasks and real-world problems, is an effective vehicle for cultivating students' problem-solving skills and individual development. Recognizing this, the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China issued the "Compulsory Education Curriculum Plan" in 2022, mandating that no less than 10% of class hours in each subject be devoted to interdisciplinary thematic learning. Despite this policy initiative, few empirical studies have examined whether interdisciplinary thematic learning has developed Chinese students' problemsolving skills during the compulsory education phase, and if so, how. This study investigates the development of problem-solving skills among 47 middle school students from a compulsory education institution in Sichuan Province using a case study methodology. The research explores the changes in students' problem-solving abilities as they participated in five interdisciplinary thematic learning activities. Qualitative data were collected through interviews and observations of students during task engagement to assess their problem-solving skill levels and identify influencing factors.The findings reveal that interdisciplinary thematic learning, supported by students' foundational knowledge, academic resources, and social environment, significantly enhances students' problemsolving abilities.
Keywords: Interdisciplinary Thematic Learning, problem-solving skills, middle school students, case study, Three-dimensional support
Received: 11 Jun 2024; Accepted: 06 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, Wang, Zeng and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Pei Wang, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China
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