Improving Students' Scientific Reasoning Skills through the Three Levels of Inquiry

This research was aimed at analyzing (1) the effectiveness of the three levels of inquiry (structured, guided and free inquiry) to improve the students' scientific reasoning skills compared to the conventional method; (2) the implementation of the three levels of inquiry. This study can be categorized as quasi-experimental with pre-test posttest non-equivalent control group design. The research sample consisted of 76 students of the Biology Education Study Program in State Islamic University of Sunan Kalijaga, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The data were collected by using scientific reasoning test and an observation sheet. The data were analyzed with the independent sample t-test. The research results indicated that the three levels of inquiry were more effective than the conventional method in improving the students' scientific reasoning skills in the aspects of analyzing, evaluating, and creating. The quality of three levels of inquiry can be categorized as very good. It urges biology lecturers to have a comprehensive understanding of the hierarchical nature and its relationship to various pedagogical practices to employ investigation process during the science learning process.