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Exploring the Relations of Inquiry-Based Teaching to Science Achievement and Dispositions in 54 Countries

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Abstract

This study, drawing on data from the third cycle of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) and employing three-level hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) as an analytic strategy, examined the relations of inquiry-based science teaching to science achievement and dispositions toward science among 170,474 15-year-old students from 4780 schools in 54 countries across the globe. The results of the HLM analyses, after accounting for student-, school-, and country-level demographic characteristics and students’ dispositions toward science, revealed that inquiry-based science teaching was significantly negatively related to science achievement. In contrast, inquiry-based science teaching was significantly positively associated with dispositions toward science, such as interest in and enjoyment of science learning, instrumental and future-oriented science motivation, and science self-concept and self-efficacy. Implications of the findings for policy and practice are discussed.

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  1. Emirates College for Advanced Education, Muroor Street, Abu Dhabi, UAE

    Dean Cairns & Shaljan Areepattamannil

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  1. Dean Cairns
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  2. Shaljan Areepattamannil
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Correspondence to Dean Cairns.

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Table 3 List of countries/economies included in the study
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Cairns, D., Areepattamannil, S. Exploring the Relations of Inquiry-Based Teaching to Science Achievement and Dispositions in 54 Countries. Res Sci Educ 49, 1–23 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-017-9639-x

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