Can Inquiry-Based Learning Effectively Improve Vocational High School Students’ Critical Thinking and Conceptual Understanding?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24036/jlils.v6i1.213Keywords:
Inquiry-Based Learning, Critical Thinking, Conceptual Understanding, Basic Electrical, Vocational EducationAbstract
Modern industrial demands require vocational students to possess high-level analytical skills, making existing conceptual gaps in fundamental engineering laws a critical challenge. This study evaluates Inquiry-Based Learning in improving critical thinking and conceptual understanding of Ohms Law. While the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test measures within-group shifts, this quasi-experimental study utilizes a two-stage cluster random sampling technique and applies the Mann-Whitney test to compare cross-group gains among seventy-two participants. Data gathered via multiple-choice and analytical essay instruments revealed significant post-intervention gains favoring the inquiry class, further validated by a large experimental effect size value of minus zero point five rather than a solitary probability metric. Structured scientific inquiry effectively bridges abstract electrical theory with robust diagnostic competencies, prompting researchers to reconsider how statistical gain comparisons can definitively reshape traditional, lecture-based regimes in technical education
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