Introductory biology instruction method for elementary education majors: Inquiry vs. traditional approach

Biology 110 is an undergraduate survey course for Elementary Education majors covering similar course content to the traditional lecture and lab format class, Biology 100, but taught in an investigative, inquiry based manner. Using a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design, the students in both courses took a modified NABT Biology Test to determine if the instructional format would influence the students' understanding of the content covered in each class. The Elementary Education majors in Biology 110 showed a significant difference (p = .001,) during the spring 2001 semester and (p < .009) during the spring 2002 semester on their posttest mean scores, as determined by an ANOVA statistical analysis, when compared to both the Elementary Education majors in the traditional Biology 100 and to all students in that course. Therefore, the instructional format used (inquiry based versus traditional lecture/lab) did appear to make a significant difference in the amount of content learned.