The development of scientiWc thinking skills in elementary and middle school

The goal of this article is to provide an integrative review of research that has been conducted on the development of children’s scientiWc reasoning. Broadly deWned, scientiWc thinking includes the skills involved in inquiry, experimentation, evidence evaluation, and inference that are done in the service of conceptual change or scientiWc understanding. Therefore, the focus is on the thinking and reasoning skills that support the formation and modiWcation of concepts and theories about the natural and social world. Recent trends include a focus on deWnitional, methodological and conceptual issues regarding what is normative and authentic in the context of the science lab and the science classroom, an increased focus on metacognitive and metastrategic skills, and explorations of diVerent types of instructional and practice opportunities that are required for the development, consolidation and subsequent transfer of such skills. © 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.