Two sections of students were randomly assigned to a lecture presentation, and one to an inquiry-oriented section in a course in electronics in a technical education program. The groups were shown to be equivalent on five measures of background and ability. At the end of the 11-week course, the inquiry group performed significantly better than the lecture group on measures of knowledge of the concepts of alternating current, inductance, capacitance, and the principle of LC filters. The inquiry group had a superior performance on measures of problem solving ability. (Author/AL)