An Empirical Analysis of the Effectiveness of Hands-on Inquiry-Based Teaching on the Moral Development of College Students

This study integrates the hands-on inquiry-based teaching method with the Ideological and Political Education course to design a foundational public course for Chinese higher education institutions, aimed at cultivating students’ moral qualities. The participants were 220 first-year nursing students from a Chinese university. Of these, 110 students were placed in the experimental group, receiving instruction designed using the hands-on inquiry-based teaching method, while the remaining 110 students were in the control group, receiving traditional instruction. Both groups underwent pre- and post-tests to evaluate their learning outcomes in terms of moral qualities. Data were analysed using independent samples t-test, paired samples t-test, one-way ANCOVA, and Johnson-Neyman analysis. The results showed that the experimental group, which received the hands-on inquiry-based instruction, performed better than the control group in areas such as core socialist values, moral identity, and moral judgement abilities. This study provides empirical evidence and practical insights for higher education institutions exploring how to achieve educational outcomes through hands-on inquiry-based teaching methods. Received: 12 July 2024 / Accepted: 28 August 2024 / Published: 05 September 2024