Effects of the 7E Inquiry Learning Approach on Learning of Biology Achievement and Analytical Thinking of Mathayomsuksa 4 Students

Abstract

This research aimed to 1) develop learning plan of the 7E inquiry and traditional learning
approach on biology learning entitled of endocrine system with efficiency value of 75/75, 2) investigate
effectiveness index of the 7E inquiry learning approach (7E) and traditional teaching method (5E), and
3) compare biology learning achievement and 4) compare analytical thinking ability taught by the
7E inquiry learning approach and traditional teaching method. Two classrooms of Mathayomsuksa 4
students from Payakaphumwitthayakan School, Payakaphum District, Maha Sarakham Province were
sampling via a cluster random method. The samples, 86 students, were being in the second semester
of academic year 2015. The research implements composed of two approaches, the 7E inquiry learning
approach and the traditional teaching method, which each composed of 4 study plans with 3 h per
each (12 h in total). Twenty questions with four multiple choices were prepared for biology learning
achievement test under title of endocrine system with the difficulty value between 0.22 - 0.48, the
discriminative power of 0.25 – 0.60 and the confidence value of 0.97. Another, 20 questions with four
multiple choices were prepared for analytical ability test with the difficulty value of 0.23 - 0.45, the
discriminative power of 0.25 – 0.63 and the confidence value of 0.97. Statistical analysis in this study was
used mean, percentage, standard deviation and t-test (Independent Sample and Dependent Sample).
These research findings were: 1) for Mathayomsuksa 4 students the 7E inquiry learning approach
was significantly higher than the required criteria with efficiency value of 79.10/78.37, and the traditional
teaching method was lower than the criteria with efficiency value of 70.75/65.12 2) effectiveness
index of the inquiry learning approach was 0.7231 that meant the student was progress in learning
about 72.31 %, while the inquiry method (5E) was 0.5006 that meant the student was progress in
learning about 50.06 % 3) the students who taught by the 7E inquiry learning approach were greater
on biology learning achievement than that by traditional teaching method with statistically significant
at the 0.05 level. and 4) after the trail was completed, the group of students learning via 7E inquiry
learning approach showed a significantly higher analytical thinking ability than that of the traditional
group at the .05 level of significance.