The Learning Effectiveness of an Online Inquiry-based Course in Taiwan

In Taiwan, since WebQuest has been used as an inquiry-based learning and creative teaching strategy in primary and secondary schools, it has been rarely used for general education in universities. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of WebQuest learning activities on students´ learning behavior and cognitive changes between two music appreciation courses in a university by applying the t-test. Participants included a control group of 36 students and an experimental group of 35 from a university in central Taiwan. In a quasi-experimental design, all students were assigned to be the experts in the final task, with and without WebQuest. The results showed that there was a significant difference between the two common factors: team integration and independent thinking. And there was a significant difference in learning effectiveness scores for students in either group under the accommodated condition. This has proved that WebQuest can be used in music appreciation as a creative educational tool. It can promote the learning effectiveness in music appreciation course. In addition, it can improve the creative higher order thinking ability after the WebQuest task was assigned.