Fostering teamwork skills through PBL volleyball courses: A social psychological study of Chinese vocational college students

This study investigates the impact of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) volleyball courses on the development of teamwork skills among Chinese vocational college students, framed within a social psychological perspective. A quasi-experimental design was employed involving 81 students, divided into an experimental group (n = 41) receiving a PBL-based volleyball curriculum and a control group (n = 40) taught through traditional methods. Over a 12-week intervention, data were collected using a validated teamwork skills scale encompassing cognitive, emotional, and behavioral dimensions. Statistical analyses, including paired t-tests and ANCOVA, revealed that the experimental group exhibited significantly greater improvements across all dimensions of teamwork skills compared to the control group. These findings highlight the role of structured, socially interactive physical education environments in enhancing key psychosocial competencies. The study contributes to the broader discourse on how educational environments, when designed with collaborative and problem-solving frameworks, can shape student behavior, motivation, and social development. It underscores the effectiveness of integrating sports-based PBL models into vocational education as a means of cultivating teamwork, responsibility, and interpersonal coordination in young adults.