The Impact of the Question Circle Strategy on the Development of Scientific Thinking in Second-Year Middle School Female Students in Physics

Abstract

The study aimed to identify the effect of the Question Circle Strategy on developing scientific thinking among second-grade intermediate female students in physics. To achieve this aim, the researcher formulated the following null hypothesis: "There is no statistically significant difference at the significance level (0.05) between the mean scores of the experimental group students who studied physics using the Question Circle Strategy and the mean scores of the control group students who studied the same subject using the conventional method in the scientific thinking test." A sample of (65) female students was selected, where section (A) represented the experimental group with (33) students, while section (B) represented the control group with (32) students. Students in both groups were matched in terms of prior knowledge, intelligence, previous achievement, and scientific thinking. The academic material was specified in chapters (1, 2, 3 from the first unit, and chapters 4, 5 from the second unit). The study adopted a partial control experimental design for two independent groups. The validity of the scientific thinking test was verified by presenting it to a panel of experts and specialists, where the agreement rate exceeded (81%). The reliability coefficient was calculated using the Kuder-Richardson formula (20), reaching (0.87). The results showed that the experimental group students who studied physics using the Question Circle Strategy outperformed the control group students who studied using the conventional method in the scientific thinking test. The researcher concluded that teaching using this strategy had a significant effect on raising and improving the level of scientific thinking, as the effect size reached (0.20), which is very large. Based on this, the researcher presented a number of recommendations and suggestions. The study found that the Question Circle Strategy has a significant effect on raising the level of scientific thinking among female students. The study recommended introducing male and female physics teachers at the intermediate level to the Question Circle Strategy to develop female students' ability to comprehend physics, and encouraging female students to develop scientific thinking and open-mindedness.