Adult intervention determines the development of science skills in early childhood education

Abstract

Preschool children achieve some mastery of science process skills (SPS) when exposed to rich learning contexts, where adult intervention is determinant. For this reason, this research evaluated how different styles of adult intervention impact the learning and engagement of preschool children in science tasks aimed at fostering SPS. 42 children aged 4 to 6 years were divided into three groups and participated in science activities under different adult intervention styles: children-led, adult-led, or guided exploration. While the adult-led group exhibited the most comprehensive understanding of concepts, the guided exploration group significantly improved their basic SPS. In contrast, the children-led intervention yielded the least favourable results. Questions posed by adults played a key role, prompting children to focus their attention and find solutions, resulting in more accurate and complete answers.