The role of model-based inquiry in supporting students’ conceptual understanding

Abstract

Model-based inquiry is an instructional laboratory approach blended with ideas of scientific and engineering practice that can motivate students to learn concepts. It focuses on the role of students to conduct experiments, collect data, and use evidence to create scientific explanations to describe core concepts. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of model-based inquiry on the promotion of conceptual understanding. The participants were 27 students in grade 11 who studied in the science-mathematic program. In this study, a one group pretest and posttest design was utilized to estimate the level of conceptual understanding with data analyzed using a paired sample t-test. There was a statistically significant difference in students’ conceptual understanding between the pretest and posttest. This suggests that the model-based inquiry is an alternative strategy to effectively promote students’ conceptual understanding.