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What are the "Developmental Needs" of Children Learning Science? Revision of Developmental Constraints on Children's Science EducationResearchers agree that inquiry should be a core of science education. In both curricula and in practice, however, this is only applied to K-4 students in a limited way as a result of assumptions about children's cognitive developmental needs. These purported constraints on children's scientific reasoning have led to the splitting in elementary schools of scientific inquiry into component "science process skills" and curricula that fail to reflect the goal-focused enterprise of science. This project aims to take advantage of studies that show that these ceilings imposed on children's scientific reasoning may seriously underestimate children's capabilities. The project has both an instructional and cognitive developmental research agenda. By implementing new ideas for science curricula, the project is developing and refining an instructional model that empowers children's scientific inquiry and enhances their interest in science. It also re-examines the strengths and limitations of children's scientific inquiry capabilities, under as powerful learning conditions as we can engineer and sustain in the elementary school classroom.
Kathleen Metz is the principal investigator.
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