The geographic inquiry process skills scale: A validation study

Abstract

Geographic inquiry has immense potential to spark the interest of school students in science and societal issues, such as climate change or resource scarcity. However, implementing inquiry-based learning in secondary school contexts is frequently seen as a challenge. So far, standardized geography assessments have primarily focused on students’ spatial-thinking abilities, and there is a dearth of practicable tools to measure their inquiry skills. This study aimed to translate the self-report geographic inquiry process skills scale into Kazakh and test its reliability and validity among Kazakhstani secondary students. A total of 826 secondary school students aged between 13 and 18 were included in the analysis. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses jointly supported a five-dimensional structure of the questionnaire. The scale exhibited sound measurement properties, including consistency over a two-week test-retest interval. The scores for the adapted instrument were not significantly correlated with participant gender, grade, age, or time spent preparing for the cross-national geography assessment. Proposals for future research are outlined.