Cognitive Research and Elementary Science Instruction: From the Laboratory, to the Classroom, and Back

Offering and discovering domain information in simulation-based inquiry learning

“…Veenman, Wilhelm, and Beishuizen (2004) showed that students' use of the controlof-variables strategy is consistent across tasks and domains (cf. Klahr & Li, 2005). Lazonder et al (2008) demonstrated that students in general, and Theorists in particular, follow the same approach to inquiry tasks they are knowledgeable and incognizant of.…”

The Impact of an Engineering Design Curriculum on Science Reasoning in an Urban Setting

“…This change in setting is likely to have a large impact on the effectiveness or the efficiency of any curriculum or instructional intervention. Researchers who have developed successful laboratory-based instruction targeting science reasoning skills have observed this effect repeatedly (Klahr and Li 2005;Kuhn and Dean 2008;Toth et al 2000). Their instruction transfers well to privileged school settings but is much less successful in disadvantaged settings.…”

Development of Science Process Skills in the Early Childhood Years

“…Much more research is needed to learn how different skills develop. As Klahr and Li ( 2005 ) suggest, research can inform educational practice, while at the same time being driven by the needs of issues of classroom practice. As the effectiveness of these different curricula becomes established, empirical questions about how to address specifi c challenges to science education will motivate further basic research.…”