The role of structured inquiry, open inquiry, and epistemological beliefs in developing secondary students’ scientific and mathematical literacies

International Journal of STEM Education

Table 3 Results of multi-group structural model analysis

Outcome	Predictor	Australia			Taiwan			Difference
		β	SE(β)	p	β	SE(β)	p	Δβ	p
Mathematical literacy	Open inquiry	− 0.210	0.036	< 0.001	− 0.546	0.032	< 0.001	0.336	< 0.001
	Structured inquiry	0.176	0.041	< 0.001	0.551	0.032	< 0.001	− 0.375	< 0.001
	Epistemological beliefs	0.349	0.018	< 0.001	0.251	0.018	< 0.001	0.098	0.047
Scientific literacy	Open inquiry	− 0.282	0.031	< 0.001	− 0.614	0.029	< 0.001	0.332	0.005
	Structured inquiry	0.253	0.035	< 0.001	0.592	0.029	< 0.001	− 0.339	< 0.001
	Epistemological beliefs	0.382	0.013	< 0.001	0.294	0.018	< 0.001	0.088	0.001

For mathematical literacy, R² = 0.161 (Australia) and R² = 0.213 (Taiwan). For scientific literacy, R² = 0.291 (Australia) and R² = 0.367 (Taiwan). Bold items indicate statistically significant (p < 0.05) predictive effects