The impact of long-term inquiry-based science education on students' motivation and knowledge acquisition: the role of gender, subject, and level of inquiry

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216208%3A11310%2F25%3A10504716" target="_blank" >RIV/00216208:11310/25:10504716 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=1J-MV3IJDf" target="_blank" >https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=1J-MV3IJDf</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04437-3" target="_blank" >10.1057/s41599-025-04437-3</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

The impact of long-term inquiry-based science education on students' motivation and knowledge acquisition: the role of gender, subject, and level of inquiry

Original language description

The long-term effects of students&apos; perceptions of inquiry-based science education when the introductory phase (comprising confirmation and structured inquiry) is omitted and guided laboratory tasks are directly implemented have not yet been thoroughly investigated. This study aims to assess the long-term effects of inquiry-based science education (IBSE) on student motivation and knowledge acquisition, comparing it with traditional laboratory activities across selected STEM subjects. Initial findings reveal that introducing inquiry-based activities in Chemistry classes reduces student interest, increases pressure on female students, and reduces the overall effort students put into learning Chemistry. Conversely, in Biology, these activities appear to reduce pressure for all students. The data indicates that while student motivation is initially low, it improves with continued exposure to IBSE methods. Furthermore, the research demonstrates that IBSE enhances students&apos; skills and knowledge acquisition over time compared to traditional laboratory instruction. The effectiveness of IBSE varies significantly depending on the STEM subject and is influenced by student gender. Overall, IBSE shows a positive impact on long-term knowledge acquisition and motivation. These findings support previous recommendations, particularly for Chemistry, suggesting that IBSE should be introduced gradually, beginning at lower levels of inquiry.

Czech name

—

Czech description

—

Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

50301 - Education, general; including training, pedagogy, didactics [and education systems]

Project

—

Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2025

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Humanities &amp; Social Sciences Communications

ISSN

2662-9992

e-ISSN

2662-9992

Volume of the periodical

12

Issue of the periodical within the volume

1

Country of publishing house

GB - UNITED KINGDOM

Number of pages

12

Pages from-to

239

UT code for WoS article

001427685000002

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85218705762