Abstract
Nine secondary school teachers participated in a five day training program where they developed inquiry-based pedagogical interventions for their science classes. Student interest and self-concept in school science and technology were measured before and after the interventions. Increases in interest and self-concept were compared with the results obtained from control groups. Results show a significant increase interest of moderate magnitude compared with the control condition, but no effect on self-concept. Our interpretation supports the use of inquiry based interventions for science classes but also presents some of the challenges faced when developing them.
Highlights
Inquiry‐based learning is usually referred to as processes by which one comes to construct a rational understanding of the world and to communicate it to others using scientific concepts and statements
These rather encouraging results clearly suggest that inquiry‐based teaching could be beneficial for learning and affect but that successfully implementing it in science classes remains marginal in most schools despite being recommended by many national and state curricula and even with considerable teacher‐training efforts (Lee, Heart, Cuevas, & Ennders, 2004; Wee, Shepardson, Fast, & Harbor, 2007), especially with novice teachers (Luft, 2001)
The teachers attended a five‐day training program where they learned about previous studies that had positive outcomes, the effects of inquiry‐based interventions, the definition and properties of interventions that qualify as such,and the possible misconceptions sometimes observed among teachers who attempt to include these kinds of interventions in their practice
Summary
Inquiry‐based learning is usually referred to as processes by which one comes to construct a rational understanding of the world and to communicate it to others using scientific concepts and statements. In their systematic review on interest, motivation, and attitude towards science and technology, Potvin and Hasni (2014b)argued that most of the articles considered (11 of the 17 articles), and that investigated the links between affective constructs and inquiry‐based teaching methods, reported positive outcomes and that none of the articles recorded negative results.
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