Cognitive style, motivation and learning in inquiry-based early-years science activities

Cognitive style differences, also known as ‘empathizing’ and ‘systemizing’ have been argued as one reason that may explain differences in children’s motivation to learn science. Researchers claim that people with a ‘systemizing’ cognitive style are likelier to engage in science than those with an ‘empathizing’ cognitive style. As such, they propose tailor-made teaching approaches and themes to specifically motivate children with an ‘empathizing’ cognitive style. In the present study, we introduce structured inquiry-based science activities to children of both cognitive styles and explore whether there is a correlation between cognitive style and engagement, as well as cognitive style and learning outcomes. The main features of this specific learning approach include building knowledge through experiments and investigations, engaging children in problem-solving situations, giving them opportunities to form coherent arguments and test their own spontaneous ideas, draw conclusions, and reflect. The results revealed no statistically significant correlation between the children’s cognitive style and their level of engagement or learning outcomes. The findings suggest that an inquiry-based approach with the above characteristics may be suitable for encouraging science learning and motivation in young children of all cognitive styles.