RESEARCH SKILLS IN NATURAL SCIENCE TEXTBOOKS IN CHILEAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL EDUCATION

For the Natural Sciences teaching at the elementary level in Chile, there are two textbooks offered by educational authorities and policies for 7th and 8th grade, which are analyzed in this research. The aim is to give an account of the skills inherent to the research activity that underlie school textbooks. The study was descriptive, mixed, and with the use of qualiquantitative elements. Its results show that there is no strong correspondence between the formative activities of scientific thinking and their development expressed in these texts; in addition, there are differences between both of them, referring to the frequency and type of activity, by level, and epistemic category identified. This situation problematizes teacher training and school learning outcomes in these areas.