New Perspectives in Science Education

Science process skills encompass cognitive abilities for evidence-based inquiry, integral to inquiry-based learning, promoting holistic development and academic success [1]. The current study aims to assess Grade 10 &11 school students in two integrated inquiry process skills, “Identify Testable Questions” and “Data Interpretation” based on the Science Inquiry Skills Framework provided by Lou, Blanchard & Kennedy [2], after participating in inquiry-based learning activities. The study's research questions are: a. How does students' understanding regarding the selected inquiry skills develop when working in inquiry-based learning? b. What patterns of student understanding emerge based on their responses about the inquiry skills? c. How do gender and grade affect the development of inquiry skills? Three inquiry-based learning series (confirmatory, structured, and guided) were developed, focusing on "Newtonian Mechanics," with small groups of 3-4 students on N=22 students. The provided scaffolding was consistent to the principles of inquiry-based learning [3]. Students responses were categorized into four levels based on their epistemological accuracy. The study’s findings indicate that students' performance is steadily improving in each inquiry type, which is evident in rising the average values. Hake Gain [4] indices reveal significant gains (gave ≥ .5) in the inquiry skills between assessments. Preliminary assessment suggests varying effectiveness of each inquiry type on different skills, with "Data Interpretation" improving rapidly and "Identifying testable questions" requiring more time and engagement for significant enhancement. Different student response patterns emerged from the pattern analysis and were studied regarding their correlation with specific inquiry skills and overall performance trends. No statistical differences were observed regarding the gender, while statistical differences were found in the structured inquiry, where 10th grade students (M=0.82, SD=0.73) had a lower mean score than 11th graders (M=2.20, SD=.84), t(3, 604.20), p=.002 at 95% confidence.