Can enquiry-based teaching improve pupils motivation and learning outcomes in science?
Enquiry based teaching is often seen as a way of engaging students in the learning process through group work and hands-on activities, and by challenging them to support conclusions with evidence and observations. The researchers in this project introduced small-scale enquiry into teaching science and evaluated the effectiveness of the method in terms of the students’ attitudes towards science, their achievement and their perceptions of the learning environment in the classroom. To compare enquiry and non-enquiry teaching, 165 Grade 7 (12-13 year old) students from eight classes participated in the action research project which ran for eight weeks. This use of small-scale enquiry was linked to positive impact on the learning environment in the classroom and some improvement in students’ achievement in science. Students from enquiry classes explored a wider range of materials during their laboratory experiments and discussed the science concepts in more depth, compared with their peers
