Abstract

• The main purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of the inquiry-based cooperative learning model in teaching high school chemistry. The explanatory sequential design, one of the basic mixed method research designs was used in this study. the nonequivalent control group design was adopted for the quantitative study and the case study design was utilized for qualitative study. A total of (315) Grade Ten chemistry students in 2022-2023 Academic Year participated for this study and the intact two classes from each selected school were randomly assigned as experimental group and control group. The experimental groups received instruction with the inquiry-based cooperative learning model and the control groups received formal instruction. The pretest, posttest and students’ attitude questionnaire were applied to collect quantitative data. In analyzing quantitative data, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), Friedman Test and descriptive statistics were adopted. The observation checklist for teachers and interviews with the students and teachers were used for acquiring the qualitative data. The observation data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and the thematic analysis was applied for the interview data. Quantitative findings showed that the students from experimental groups exhibited better chemistry achievement than the students from control groups in all selected schools. There were improvements in the inquiry and cooperative learning skills of the students from experimental groups. Qualitative findings revealed that the teachers from experimental groups successfully implemented their teaching chemistry with inquiry-based cooperative learning model. The students and teachers exhibited positive and favourable attitudes in their teaching-learning processes with the inquiry-based cooperative learning model. Therefore, the inquiry-based cooperative learning model effectively contributed to the teaching of high school chemistry.