The Development of Inquiry-Based Instruction on Physical Environment in Different Regions for the Fifth Grade Students

Abstract

          The objectives of this research were to 1) develop the inquiry-based instruction on physical environment in different regions to be effective according to the 80/80 criteria, 2) compare academic achievement of the students between pre-test and post-test, 3) compare critical thinking ability of the students between pre-test and post-test, and 4) study student satisfaction after employing the activity. A sample group of this research consisted of 10 students in grade 5 from Wankru 2502 School, selected by using cluster random sampling method. The tools used in the research were: 1) the 10 inquiry-based instructional plans with an average of 4.82, 2) the 20 questions of academic achievement test with the difficulty level between 0.20 - 0.47, the discrimination index between 0.21 - 0.86, and the reliability value of 0.88, 3) the 15 items of analytical thinking ability test with the difficulty level between 0.53 - 0.71, the discrimination index between 0.20 - 0.30, and the reliability value of 0.83, and 4) the 10 items of satisfaction questionnaire with the IOC of 1.00. The statistics used in the research consisted of percentage, means, standard deviation and dependent t –test. The research found that 1) the inquiry-based instruction on physical environment in different regions had an efficiency value of 85.70/83.50, 2) the students’ scores of academic achievement post-test was higher than the pre-test with a statistical significance of .05, 3) after employing the inquiry-based instruction on physical environment in different regions, the scores of analytical thinking ability was higher than before with a statistical significance of .05, and 4) the fifth grade students was satisfied with the inquiry-based instruction on physical environment in different regions at the highest level.