The effect of inquiry-based learning supported by digital stories on 8th grade students' academic achievement, creativity and scientific inquiry skills in DNS and Genetic Code unit

The aim of this study is to examine the effects of inquiry-based learning supported by digital stories in the DNA and Genetic Code unit on the academic achievement, scientific creativity, and scientific inquiry skills of 8th grade students. A quasi-experimental design with a pretest-posttest control group was used in the study. The study was conducted with 51 students, 26 of whom were in the control group and 25 of whom were in the experimental group, studying in the 8th grade at a public school in the city center of Balıkesir in the 2023-2024 academic year. While instruction was provided with inquiry-based learning activities supported by digital stories in the experimental group, instruction was provided within the framework of the MEB curriculum in the control group. DNA and Genetic Code Achievement Test, Scientific Creativity Test, and Scientific Inquiry Skills Test were used as data collection tools. The obtained data were analyzed using the SPSS 27.0 package program. Since the data provided normal distribution, independent sample t-test was used to compare separate groups, and related sample t-test was used to compare groups within themselves. According to the findings obtained from the data at the end of the study, it was concluded that inquiry-based learning activities supported by digital stories increased the academic success, creativity and scientific inquiry skills of the students. In addition, it was observed that there was a significant difference in favor of the experimental group between the achievement test, scientific creativity test and scientific inquiry skills test posttest scores of the students in the control and experimental groups. In line with these results, some suggestions were made to the researchers.