Inquiry-Based Instruction and Students’ Science Process Skills: An Experimental Study
Keywords:
Experimental group, inquiry-based instruction, quasi-experimental approach, Scientific Process Skills Test (SPST), traditional teaching methodAbstract
Science process skills are considered the basics of scientific inquiry and critical thinking. A deep understanding of science lessons requires the use of process skills in science subjects. The purpose of the study was to investigate how inquiry-based education affected students' science process abilities of students. The study was experimental with quasi-experimental approach. The sample comprised two groups of grade 8th students from a female public school in Sargodha District. The experimental group consisted of 31 students (N=31), and the control group consisted of 35 students (N=35). A pretest and posttest were given to the sample by using the Scientific Process Skills Test (SPST). The experimental group was taught through 5 E model instruction- based inquiry as an intervention for 16 weeks, whereas the control group was taught by the traditional teaching method. The data were analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics, and it was found that inquiry-based instruction enhanced the science process skills of the experimental group students. The recommendations included science teachers’ training for this method of teaching, and improvision of new strategies for interactive inquiry-based instructions to reinforce and enhance students’ science process skills. A mixed methods research may be conducted in future to explore the positive impact of inquiry-based instructions on the sciences process skills of the experimental group students as compared to control group students.
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