Teaching experimental design to elementary school pupils in Greece

This research is a study about the possibility to promote experimental design skills to elementary school pupils. Experimental design and the experiment process are foundational elements in current approaches to Science Teaching, as they provide learners with profound understanding about knowledge construction and science inquiry. The research was carried out in pupils of an elementary school in Greece, who participated in the Science Club, which is composed of learners with interest and talent in the science subject. This club was formed in the year 2013-2014. Up until the year 2015-2016, totally 42 pupils have participated. All of them were involved in experimental design tasks. Through a qualitative research, it was examined whether the learners got familiar with the basic dimensions of experimental design. These are precision of variables, hypothesis stating and clarification of measurements and observations. Findings were overall positive. However, there is room for improvement.