Home⇛Advanced Social Science in Research Journal⇛vol. 1 no. 2 (2026)

Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL) For The Development Of Critical Thinking Skills of Senior High School Students

Marinel Adoremos | Leila L. Ravana

Discipline: Education

 

Abstract:

The need for high-order thinking competency in education 21st century promotes the implementation of inquiry-based learning (IBL) to optimally strengthen critical-thinking ability on senior high school students. This study explored student and teacher respondent profiles, levels of exposure to IBL, students' critical thinking skills level while addressing the perceptual gaps between teachers and students. It further explored the association between critical thinking development and exposure to IBL while providing a proposed framework for instructional improvement. While it becomes widely adopted by institutions, empirical evidence of perception differences between teaching staff and students remains scarce and not proven if exposure effect during this senior high school with mathematics focus could evolve to cognitive skills development. Broader perspective of instructional exposure, resource accessibility and pedagogical facilitation that impacts two-level learner outcomes. The results suggest that there is a notable difference in IBL exposure and critical thinking skills between students and teachers, although decision-making and problem-solving are recognized as leading cognitive skills. A very strong positive correlation was found between IBL exposure and critical thinking development, suggesting that experiential and inquirydriven pedagogy is valuable for cognition. Structured inquiry environments are identified to greatly enhance students’ analytical and evaluative thinking capacities, the study concluded. As a result, the researcher proposed strengthening teacher facilitation strategies, extending resource access and availability to include students' autonomy in learning activities as well as implementing inquiry-based instructional frameworks through policy integration. More broadly, future research could substantiate these findings across various academic contexts and learner demographics to help build evidence-informed educational reforms.



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