Effects of Inquiry Learning Combined with Strategy Board Games in Biology on Systems Thinking of Eleventh-Grade Students

This research aimed to 1) compare the systems thinking of eleventh-grade students before and after learning through inquiry learning combined with strategy board games in biology, and 2) study the relative growth of systems thinking among eleventh-grade students learning through inquiry learning combined with strategy board games in biology. The sample consisted of 38 eleventh-grade students from Yang Talad Witthayakarn School, Kalasin Province, Thailand, during the second semester of the 2023 academic year, which was derived from cluster random sampling. The research instruments included: 1) six inquiry learning lesson plans on flowering plant reproduction in biology, 2) six strategy-based biology board games, and 3) a systems thinking test. Data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and the dependent-samples t-test. The results show that (1) Eleventh-grade students who learned through inquiry learning combined with strategy board games in biology demonstrated significantly higher post-learning systems thinking scores compared to pre-learning scores at the .05 level. (2) Most eleventh-grade students showed high levels of systems thinking relative growth, accounting for 36.84%, followed by moderate levels at 34.21%. Notably, no students exhibited a lack of relative growth in systems thinking.