Natural science is often overlooked in preschool education, despite its crucial role in developing young children's inquiry and exploration skills. This study aimed to explain the impact of inquiry-based science teaching activities on the science teaching efficacy of preservice preschool teachers. Participants included 23 pre-service teachers…

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…

This study aims to design an educational process for teaching scientific concepts during the preschool period based on the instructional design model of Seels and Glasgow and to evaluate its effectiveness. For this purpose, a material set incorporating a teacher's manual and interactive holographic materials was developed. The teacher's manual…

Inquiry-based science education has become one of the most effective methodologies to learn science; however, proposals in preschool are scarce. Different factors are responsible for this situation, such as the low self-confidence of teachers to teach science and the belief that young children are unable to develop certain reasoning skills. This…

This study aims to introduce inquiry-based play activities and to examine their effectiveness on young children's conceptual understanding of the shape of the Earth and the day-night cycle. The inquiry-based play activities for preschool children were designed to support children to learn the concepts of the shape of the Earth and the day-night…

The use of effective questions is an essential attribute of successful early years science teaching. In this case study, we analyse the questions and dialogues generated by four preschool teachers from two schools in Buenos Aires, Argentina, of contrasting socioeconomic contexts (one privileged and one underprivileged). We looked at the…

This paper presents findings from an on-going international study (Australia and Finland) of preschool teachers' beliefs and pedagogical practices in the integration of technology to engage young children in learning science. Scarcely used in early childhood education research, this study is framed using Mishra and Koehler's (2006) Technological…

In the digital age, the integration of technology has become a ubiquitous aspect of modern society. These advancements have significantly enhanced the field of education, allowing students to receive a better learning experience. "Digital Tools and Solutions for Inquiry-Based STEM Learning" is a comprehensive source of scholarly material…

This study aimed to understand the process of implementing an early years inquiry-based science unit, focusing on the challenges teachers faced. A two-month professional development programme was implemented in two preschool classrooms. Two teachers with no inquiry-based science experience were provided with structured curriculum units and weekly…

Given the increased emphasis on science in early learning standards, two studies were conducted to investigate preschool teachers' efficacy for teaching science and their inquiry-based teaching practices. Fifty-one teachers completed a survey of their efficacy for teaching science and understanding of inquiry methods. Teachers reported moderate…

Teaching science means doing science and involves three elements: knowing content, knowing children, and teachers knowing themselves as teachers and learners. The authors describe principles and requirements that reflect National Science Education Standards for the active learning of science. They identify key ingredients for primary students and…