Investigating the Impact of Smartphone based Guided-inquiry Laboratory Approach on the Development of Middle School Students’ Science Learning Performance

Abstract

Currently, smartphones play an important role in the field of STEM-related education. The use of smartphones and mobile devices has changed the way of learning in and about science with the support of mobile applications. This paper presents the development of hands-on guided inquiry laboratory lessons in physical science with the support of smartphones as an instructional intervention, and also presents the impact of smartphone-based laboratory lessons on middle school students’ learning performance in science, regarding scientific understanding and explanation. In this study, forty-four middle school students in a public secondary school located in the northeastern region of Thailand voluntarily participated in this study, and they were assigned to interact with a series of smartphone-based hands-on guided inquiry laboratory on solutions for six weeks. The results indicated that the instructional intervention could promote Thai middle school students’ better scientific understanding of and positively induce their ability to explain solution phenomena scientifically. This revealed that it is a challenge to use a smartphone-based hands-on guided inquiry laboratory environment as a modern pedagogy for new-generation learners who have digital skills to perform science learning in the 21st-century education era. The main implication of this study is the rethinking of pedagogy used for modern and up-to-date science teaching for the young generation.