TY - JOUR
T1 - Patterns of Development in Children’s Scientific Reasoning
T2 - Results from a Three-Year Longitudinal Study
AU - Lazonder, Ard W.
AU - Janssen, Noortje
AU - Gijlers, Hannie
AU - Walraven, Amber
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Netherlands Initiative for Education Research (NRO) [405-15-546]. We are grateful to Merel Boon, who scored part of the data to determine interrater reliability. We also wish to thank Robin Willemsen and Joep van der Graaf for helpful feedback on a preliminary version of this paper.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
PY - 2021/1/1
Y1 - 2021/1/1
N2 - Scientific reasoning refers to the thinking skills involved in conceiving and conducting an investigation. This study examined how proficiency in performing these skills develops during the upper-elementary school years. A sample of 157 children (age 7–10) took a performance-based scientific reasoning test in three consecutive years. Four distinct developmental patterns emerged from their annual test scores, which were independent of prior domain knowledge and sociodemographic characteristics except gender. Developmental patterns in scientific reasoning and reading comprehension, but not math, were related such that many children with a high entry level or accelerated growth in scientific reasoning also performed better and progressed more in reading comprehension. These results indicate that scientific reasoning develops differently in same-age children, largely independent of personal characteristics but generally comparable with reading comprehension.
AB - Scientific reasoning refers to the thinking skills involved in conceiving and conducting an investigation. This study examined how proficiency in performing these skills develops during the upper-elementary school years. A sample of 157 children (age 7–10) took a performance-based scientific reasoning test in three consecutive years. Four distinct developmental patterns emerged from their annual test scores, which were independent of prior domain knowledge and sociodemographic characteristics except gender. Developmental patterns in scientific reasoning and reading comprehension, but not math, were related such that many children with a high entry level or accelerated growth in scientific reasoning also performed better and progressed more in reading comprehension. These results indicate that scientific reasoning develops differently in same-age children, largely independent of personal characteristics but generally comparable with reading comprehension.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85090470629&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/15248372.2020.1814293
DO - 10.1080/15248372.2020.1814293
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85090470629
SN - 1524-8372
VL - 22
SP - 108
EP - 124
JO - Journal of Cognition and Development
JF - Journal of Cognition and Development
IS - 1
ER -
