New Perspectives in Science Education
Developing Scientific Thinking Through Inquiry-Based Science in Five-Year-Old Children
Estrella Lucia Gallardo Collantes, Facultad de educación, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC), Lima (Peru)
Rebecca Noelia Azañero Vicuña, Facultad de educación, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC), Lima (Peru)
Rossana Barros, Facultad de educación, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC), Lima (Peru)
Abstract
The aim of this study was to evaluate whether a brief inquiry-based science intervention improved scientific thinking in five-year-old children. Scientific thinking was operationalised as two abilities: experimentation and data interpretation. For example, a child may predict whether an object will float, test the prediction, record the outcome, and use the evidence to explain it. Seventy kindergarten children (M = 72.61 months, SD = 3.75) from two schools in Lima participated. Within each school, children were assigned to intervention or control conditions using computer-generated random numbers, resulting in 35 children in each group. Both groups completed 12-item pretest and posttest measures of experimentation and data interpretation. The intervention group participated in four 30-minute inquiry sessions on colour mixing, floating and sinking, magnetic attraction, and weight comparison. Each session followed the same inquiry cycle: children considered a question, formulated predictions, proposed ways to test them, experimented with concrete materials, recorded observations, interpreted evidence, and discussed conclusions. An ANCOVA controlling for pretest performance and age showed higher posttest scores in the intervention group, F(1, 66) = 22.24, p < .001, partial η² = .25. Significant group differences were also found for experimentation, F(1, 66) = 4.23, p = .044, partial η² = .06, and data interpretation, F(1, 66) = 18.95, p < .001, partial η² = .22. These results indicate that a short sequence of structured inquiry activities can improve young children’s experimentation and data interpretation. The findings support guided inquiry as a feasible approach for developing scientific thinking in early childhood science education.
Keywords: inquiry-based science learning; scientific thinking; experimentation; data interpretation; early childhood education.
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