Inquiry-Based Learning Implementation: Students’ Perception and Preference

Abstract

With a bundle of changes in the new age that has brought considerable challenges to the doorstep of teachers and educators, novel approaches to teaching are now emerging to take on the challenges. Inquiry-based learning (IBL), thanks to its well-rooted fundamentals, can be considered a potential approach to addressing challenges in many effective ways. IBL is a learning and teaching process that focuses on using questions as an initial point in learning; learners are immersed in the process of generating and posing questions to find the truth, information, or knowledge through hands-on activities performed by learners themselves with teachers’ guidance on the side. The primary aim of the present study was to find out learners’ perceptions of IBL implementation. The study exposed 26 Iraqi EFL learners to the approach and investigated the participant’s opinions and perceptions of the approach implementation. To collect data, participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire with particular reference to the effects of IBL on students’ class engagement, prior knowledge activation, student-centered environment promotion, and cultivation of 21st-century skills. Results highlight students’ positive preferences toward IBL implementation.

Keywords

• inquiry-based learning
• students perceptions
• questions
• efl