The Development of Grade 7 Students' Scientific Competency through Inquiry - based Leaning with Using the Context in Personal, Local/ National, and Global Levels

Abstract

The objective of this research was to develop the scientific competencies of Grade 7 students through inquiry-based learning, along with the application of contextual situations in personal, national, and global contexts. The research participants consisted of 22 grade 7 school students who participated in the development program over the course of 1 academic year. This research utilized classroom action research, and the research data was collected by Inquiry-based Learning combined with Contextual Situations, Lesson Plans, Scientific Competency Assessment, Student Reflective Journal and Teaching Logs. The research findings show that students achieved the high level of competency development (Level 4 out of 5) in identifying scientific issues. They were able to distinguish scientific issues or stories from other topics with scientific evidence. Students could identify which questions could be answered through scientific testing and which questions could not be examined using scientific tests. They could also self-assess and determine what information or evidence they needed to collect to design data collection accurately. In terms of using scientific evidence, students did not demonstrate clear development in this competency. This is possibly because the learning activities did not emphasize the promotion of this aspect, especially in the context of using information or evidence obtained through research to support conclusions or make predictions or forecasts. This research highlights that inquiry-based learning, combined with the contextual situations in levels of personal, national, and global, enhances the development of scientific competencies.

Keywords: Science Competencies, Inquiry-based Learning Combined with Using the Contextual Situations in Life, At the Personal, National, and Global Levels, Classroom Action Research