Eco-Inquiry Modules: Effects on Students’ Achievement and Understanding of Environmental Concepts and the Nature of Science

Abstract

The study developed a set of Eco-inquiry modules (also known as Eco-inquiry) and determined its effects on students’ achievement, understanding of environmental concepts and the nature of science among undergraduate tourism major students. Eco-inquiry was evaluated in terms of subject matter and pedagogical experts’ assessment and readability. Using quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design for quantitative and qualitative data analyses, the following problems were addressed: (1) correlation between the pre and post-test scores in the achievement test and students’ grades in their prerequisite subjects, (2) difference in the scores for the achievement test, understanding of environmental concepts and the natures of science among and between students exposed to inquiry-based learning and those exposed to conventional approach, (3) correlation between the experimental students’ inquiry-based learning posttest scores in the achievement test and conceptual understanding of environmental concepts and (4) students’ assessment of inquiry-based learning through Eco-inquiry. Tourism major students from a College in Manila, the Philippines who were enrolled in Ecotourism (ECOTOUR) class for the 3rd Term of Academic Year 2014-2015 were the subjects of the study. The assignment of two sections to either experimental (use of inquiry-based learning) or the control (use of conventional approach) group was randomly done through a drawing of lots. All parametric and nonparametric statistical tests were processed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Version 21) software for MS Windows.

Results in all criteria for evaluation of Eco-inquiry which include attainment of objectives, characteristics as inquiry-based learning, integration of the nature of science, content accuracy, modules originality, modules clarity and evaluation indicators by the subject matter and pedagogical experts showed that it is nearly outstanding. Subsequently, the readability index of Eco-inquiry is found to be appropriate for college level.