ABSTRACTTEACHING REACTIONS AND STOICHIOMETRY: A COMPARISON OF GUIDED INQUIRY AND TRADITIONAL LABORATORY ACTIVITIESByLynn Meister ThomasThere is a major movement in science education towards the inclusion of science inquiry and process. Guided-inquiry instruction is expected to have a positive impact on students' concrete and conceptual knowledge along with their ability to engage in the practices of science. This study examined the impact of inquiry-based teaching on student achievement. The topics of reactions and stoichiometry were taught in two different periods of first-year secondary honors chemistry. Both classes received the same lectures and assignments for this curriculum and both classes performed the same laboratory activities. However, one class received traditional, step-by-step (often called "cookbook") laboratory instructions while the other class developed their own procedures and made decisions about data to complete the laboratory activities. Pre- and post-tests were given to each class, followed by a test of retention after ten weeks.The results of this study indicate that inquiry-based instruction has a positive impact on student achievement. A significant increase between pre- and post- test scores for the experimental group as opposed to the scores for the control group suggests that achievement was correlated with guided inquiry instruction methods. Additionally, a notable trend suggested that guided inquiry instruction has a positive effect on learning retention.
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