Several studies demonstrate the importance of science education in early childhood. By using scientific practices in class, children can better comprehend the world around them, test hypotheses and develop positive attitudes towards science. These early experiences not only build a solid foundation for understanding abstract and concepts but also prepare children for continued learning in primary, secondary, and high school, ultimately supporting their success in higher education. The present study aims to study how an inquiry teaching sequence promotes the incorporation of scientific practices in early childhood education students and to what extent the teacher’s questions mobilises the children’s scientific operations and scientific practices in the context of a project about rain. The dialogues between the teacher and 3-year-old children during an inquiry session were analysed. The results show that scientific practices were present through all the Stages of the sequence, especially inquiry and argumentation. Moreover, the type of scientific practice shown by the children corresponded with the scientific practice the teacher tried to encourage. Therefore, we can conclude that 3-year-old children are able to engage in scientific practices and that the teacher’s scaffolding has a direct impact on it.

La construcci The construction of a connective brain begins at the earliest ages of human development. However, knowledge about individual and collective brains provided so far by research has been rarely incorporated into Maths in Early Childhood classrooms. In spite of that, it is obvious that it is at these ages when the learning of mathematics acts as a nuclear element for decision- making, problem -solving, data- processing and the understanding of the world. From that perspective, this research aims to analyse the mathematics teaching-learning process at early ages based on connectionism, with the specific objectives being, on the one hand, to determine the features of mathematics practices which promote connections and, on the other hand, to identify different types of mathematics connections to enhance connective intelligence. The research was carried out over two consecutive academic years under an interpretative paradigm with a methodological approach combining Action Research and Grounded Theory. The results obtained allow the characterization of a prototype of a didactic sequence that promotes three types of mathematics connections for the development of connective intelligence in young children: conceptual, giving rise to links between mathematics concepts; teaching, linking mathematics concepts through an active methodology, and practical ones connecting maths with the environment.

The reversal error is a prevalent phenomenon that consists of reversing the relationship between two variables when writing equations from comparison in verbal language. A study with 169 Basque/Spanish bilingual pre-service teachers examined whether this error is mainly due to the students’ tendency to employ a direct-translation strategy based on the syntax of statements. By using Basque and Spanish the factor of syntax was studied since in Basque, unlike Spanish (or English), the natural way of expressing comparisons prevents students from using direct-translations strategies. Results show a significantly lower number of reversal errors in sentences written in Basque compared with those in Spanish. This finding confirms the importance of syntax statement in the translation from words into equations and suggests that teachers should have awareness of this fact and should design lesson plans devoted to work on word problems accordingly.

Objetivo. En este trabajo se analiza el tipo de dificultades y argumentación que muestran las niñas y niños de tres años, frente a tareas relacionadas con la programación y la robótica educativa en el aula. Metodología. Se ha elaborado un diseño teórico y se ha implementado una secuencia de actividades en un aula de niños y niñas de 3 años de edad y se ha realizado un estudio de casos con 8 de los participantes. Análisis de resultados. Entre los resultados más destacados se han identificado dificultades de tres tipos, las derivadas de las características del robot, las asociadas a la dimensión comprensión acción-instrucción del pensamiento computacional y las asociadas a la etapa cognitiva de los niños y niñas. Conclusiones. El análisis de los argumentos expresados en el desarrollo de la tarea permite concluir que el uso de robótica educativa en edades tempranas favorece el desarrollo de la alfabetización computacional, lo que hace recomendable su inclusión entre las actividades de aula.