We live in the information age. Broad access to vast troves of information can benefit society considerably, providing conduits for inquiry by individuals of all ages, enabling the spread of important information to previously isolated populations, and facilitating social connections across the globe. However, inundated with information from an ever‐expanding array of sources, we also live in the misinformation age. Thus, it is of paramount importance to raise the next generation to approach the world through an empirical, evaluative lens, and to work to foster the development of habits of mind that will guide how children engage with the world. In this article, I present a new theoretical framework for investigating children’s engagement in and understanding of three key steps in the empirical process: (a) asking questions and forming a hypothesis, (b) collecting and analyzing data, and (c) communicating evidence. I discuss young children’s capacities for engaging in each step as well as the obstacles they may encounter in doing so, and suggest approaches for researchers working toward this pressing societal goal.

中文翻译：

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有经验的孩子？研究科学思维习惯发展的框架

我们生活在信息时代。广泛获取大量信息可以使社会受益匪浅，为各个年龄段的个人提供查询渠道，使重要信息能够传播到以前孤立的人群中，并促进全球的社会联系。然而，从来源不断扩大的阵列信息淹没，我们还住在MIS信息时代。因此，至关重要的是，要培养下一代通过经验，评估的视角来接触世界，并努力养成指导孩子如何与世界互动的思维习惯。在本文中，我提供了一个新的理论框架，用于研究儿童参与和理解经验过程中的三个关键步骤：（a）提出问题并形成假设，（b）收集和分析数据，以及（c）交流证据。我讨论了幼儿参与每个步骤的能力以及他们在进行此操作时可能遇到的障碍，并为研究人员提出了实现这一紧迫的社会目标的方法。