Erin Peters

Thinking Like Scientists: Using Metacognitive Prompts to Develop Nature of Science Knowledge Erin Peters

How effective is a developmental intervention to teach the nature of science using metacognitive prompts embedded in an inquiry unit? Eighty-eight eighth grade students from four classrooms were randomly assigned to an experimental and a control group to explore this problem. All participants were asked to respond to a number of pre- and post-tests and were interviewed to explore problem solving techniques and shared experiences between the groups. Results showed significant gains in content knowledge and nature of science knowledge of the experimental group over the control group. Qualitative findings revealed that students in the control group reported valuing authority over evidence, while the experimental group reported that they depended on consensus of their group on the interpretation of the evidence rather than authority, which is more closely aligned to the aspects of the nature of science. Metacognitive prompts may have implications as a useful classroom tool in guiding students to check their thinking for alignment to scientific thinking.