The development of scientific reasoning from primary school to secondary school: A longitudinal study (Science-S)

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The present project investigates the development of scientific thinking (with the subdimensions understanding the nature of science and methods of scientific inquiry) in secondary school. Building on prior work from the project Science-P, which focused on the development of scientific thinking in primary school, the main goal of the present project is to investigate the validity of a conceptual-development model of scientific thinking in a broad age range, from early elementary (grade 3) to late secondary school (grade 9). Because developmental research indicates significant developmental progressions in scientific thinking between 11 and 15 years while simultaneously pointing to the importance of early abilities in primary school, a systematic longitudinal investigation of developmental trends and interrelations between early and later competencies in scientific thinking is much needed. Next to evaluating the validity of the competence development model postulated in Science-P, the central research questions of the present project concern scientific thinking as a construct that can be delineated from scientific content knowledge (e.g., in the area of physics) and from general cognitive development (e.g., intelligence), and the influences of cognitive and motivational correlates as well as of contextual factors such as schooling and parental education on the development of scientific thinking. These questions will be investigated longitudinally over the course of four points of measurement (grades 6, 7, 8, and 9) in a core sample of N = 114 students, which comprises those students who already participated in Science-P, and an additional sample of N = 450 students (the complete sample thus comprises N = 564).