Teaching Methods for the Development of Thinking Ability in Scientific Inquiry: The Process of Transformation from Questions to Interrogatives

Abstract

This study focuses on students’ thinking ability in transforming interrogatives of “why” into questions of “what” and “how” in problem-setting situations in elementary school science. In this study, we developed a new teaching method for elementary school students, which was based on the thought process in the process of question conversion and the actual conditions of elementary school students, and practiced it in class. After one hour of instruction for the students to gain understanding of the knowledge necessary for the conversion process, four hours of instruction for the students to repeat the knowledge in their daily science classes were provided. The effect of the instructional method was limited, although it was able to promote the acquisition of knowledge necessary for the conversion of questions and to develop the students’ thinking ability in scientific inquiry.