Inquiry-based Laboratory Activities: Effect on Students’ Inquiry Skills, Conceptual Understanding and Attitude Toward Genetics

Abstract

The study developed and determined the effects of the inquiry-based laboratory activities on the inquiry skills, conceptual understanding and attitude toward Genetics of undergraduate Biology and Biology major Education students. The quasi-experimental design for quantitative methodology and qualitative data analysis were used to assess the (1) difference in the inquiry skills and conceptual understanding among and between students exposed to inquiry-based laboratory activities and those who are not; (2) change in the attitudes of the students toward Genetics in inquiry-based laboratory activities; (3) correlation among students' inquiry skills, conceptual understanding, and attitude toward Genetics; and ( 4) impact of inquiry-based laboratory activities in Genetics to students who use it. The students enrolled in Genetics class in a state university in the Visayas for the 2nd Semester Academic Year 2014-2015 served as subjects of this study. The students were randomly assigned to two groups - the control and the experimental groups. The control group consisted of one section of Bachelor of Science in Biology (Premed and Biotechnology Track) students taught using the traditional cookbook method in Genetics while the experimental groups consisted of two separate sections of Bachelor of Science in Biology (Microbiology Track) and Bachelor in Secondary Education (major in Biology) students utilized the researcher-made inquiry-based laboratory activities in Genetics. Qualitative analysis was done using focus group interview to obtain an in-depth analysis of the perceptions on the strategy and implementation of inquiry-based laboratory activities. This was further triangulated through students' laboratory reports, inquiry skills, conceptual understanding results, attitude questionnaire responses and observation checklists. The quantitative data on conceptual understanding, inquiry skills and attitude toward Genetics were assessed in a pretest-posttest implementation of the strategy used. In the laboratory period, the control group used the conventional laboratory method, the "cook book" method while the inquiry-based laboratory method was employed in the experimental group. Statistical analyses of the study employed both descriptive and inferential statistics.