The development of science process skills and of content knowledge with inquiry boxes in early childhood education

Golob, Nika (author), Ungar, Vanja (author)

This paper aims to investigate the systematic use of an inquiry-based learning approach in science by using inquiry boxes for preschool children. We prepared four thematic inquiry boxes for the areas of magnetism and buoyancy, separation of substances, weighing objects, and the investigation of substances. The research sample consisted of twenty children aged four to five years. Ten children from the experimental group explored the material using the photo-type instructions on the instructional cards over a period of four weeks. Comparative test results for the control group children show that the experimental group children progressed both in content knowledge and in better-developed science process skills. We find that children develop autonomy in science process skills such as classifying, ordering, and weighing through prepared and guided inquiry with the help of the inquiry boxes. In doing so, children show increasing autonomy within each set of tasks that develop the chosen science process skill. In this manner, science practices with inquiry boxes allow children to build on science content knowledge. They can apply the skills they have learned through inquiry boxes to new knowledge instead of teaching science processes as isolated skills. This approach of individually guided inquiry by children using thematic inquiry boxes is therefore recommended as a proven didactic tool for developing science process skills and content knowledge.

• Language: English
• Keywords: science process skills, development, inquiry boxes, content knowledge, early childhood education
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: PEF - Faculty of Education
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: Str. 249–279
• Numbering: Vol. 15, no. 2
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-179331
• UDC: 373.2:5
• ISSN on article: 2232-2647
• DOI: 10.26529/cepsj.1631
• COBISS.SI-ID: 172627971

Copyright

Podatek o licenci CC-BY 4.0 je naveden na spletni strani revije (https://ojs.cepsj.si/index.php/cepsj/about). (Datum opombe 11. 2. 2026)

• Publication date in RUL: 11.02.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: CEPS Journal: Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal = revija Centra za študij edukacijskih strategij
• Publisher: Pedagoška fakulteta, Univerza v Ljubljani
• ISSN: 2232-2647
• COBISS.SI-ID: 254029824

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Razvijanje spretnosti naravoslovnih postopkov in vsebinskega znanja z raziskovalnimi škatlami v predšolskem izobraževanju

Abstract

Namen članka je raziskati sistematično uporabo raziskovalnega učenja v naravoslovju z uporabo raziskovalnih škatel za predšolske otroke. Pripravili smo štiri tematske raziskovalne škatle s področij magnetizma in vzgona, ločevanja snovi, tehtanja predmetov in preučevanja snovi. Raziskovalni vzorec je predstavljal dvajset otrok, starih od 4 do 5 let. Deset otrok iz eksperimentalne skupine je v štirih tednih raziskovalo material iz raziskovalnih škatel s pomočjo slikovno-fotografskih navodil na delovnih karticah. Rezultati primerjalnih testov za otroke iz kontrolne skupine kažejo, da so otroci iz eksperimentalne skupine napredovali v vsebinskem znanju in tudi v bolje razvitih spretnostih naravoslovnih postopkov. Ugotavljamo, da otroci s pomočjo pripravljenega in vode-nega raziskovanja z raziskovalnimi škatlami razvijajo samostojnost pri spretnostih naravoslovnih postopkov, kot so: razvrščanje, urejanje in tehtanje. Pri tem otroci kažejo vedno večjo samostojnost v vsakem sklopu nalog. Naravoslovna dejavnost z raziskovalnimi škatlami otrokom omogoča nadgradnjo znanja naravoslovnih vsebin. Spretnosti, ki so se jih naučili s pomočjo raziskovalnih škatel, lahko uporabijo kot novo znanje, na novem primeru, namesto da bi naravoslovne postopke urili kot izolirane spretnosti. Pristop individualno vodenega raziskovanja otrok z uporabo tematskih raziskovalnih škatel je tako priporočljivo in preizkušeno didaktično orodje za razvijanje spretnosti naravoslovnih postopkov in vsebinskega znanja.

• Keywords: razvoj spretnosti naravoslovnih postopkov, raziskovalne škatle, vsebinsko znanje, predšolsko izobraževanje