Libro de Actas del III Congreso Latinoamericano y del Caribe e Investigación en Educación Superior- LatinSoTL- 2025

81 demonstrated a favorable understanding of gene expression requiered to design a biologic (Figure 1A). Regarding the use of problem-solving skills and creativity, 92.5% of students (37 out of 40) performed “excellent” or “good” in the biological design (Figure 1B). This indicates that the majority of students effectively applied critical thinking and innovation during the task. In terms of conceptual confidence, 35 students (88%) agreed that active learning activities, such as the group biologics design, helped them better explain gene regulation and understand its biotechnological applications. Only 5 students responded neutrally, and none disagreed (Figure 1C). Panel A shows the distribution of student performance levels in demonstrating understanding of gene expression through a biologics design task, with most student answers rated as “Excellent.” Panel B displays student evaluations of their use of problem-solving and creativity during the activity, with a strong majority performing at an excellent level. Panel C presents students’ self-reported confidence in explaining gene regulation and its biotechnological applications, with 88% indicating agreement that the activity enhanced their understanding. Discussion These results suggest that the integration of PBL significantly enhanced both cognitive and affective dimensions of student learning. The learning activity facilitated knowledge transfer from theoretical knowledge to problem solving. Moreover, this excersise promoted deeper engagement, strengthened conceptual understanding, and fostered student confidence in complex genetic processes by allowing them to discuss their thoughts with their peers and professor, while receiving formative feedback. The results from this study are consistent with previous studies that have analyzed the integration of PBL as a tool to better understand complex genetic concepts. In two studies in Asia, teachers integrated PBL into a high school genetics course and demonstrated more student engagement in the course and more confidence in the teacher (Angraini, 2022; Choden, 2020). In another study in Cuba, researchers implemented PBL in a medical genetics course to evaluate whether it improved knowledge acquisition in medical students. Students who integrated PBL in their learning showed an increase in academic performance when compared to the control group (Lardoeyt Ferrer, 2025). Noticeably, there are no research studies that aim to explore the benefits of implementing PBL in a genetics classroom at an undergraduate level, as this current study is analyzing. Therefore, it is imperative to improve upon this study so it can be published. This study has a few limitations, like the small sample size and a lack of a