Children’s use of teleological explanations can pose problems in science education. But can children be taught to recognise teleological explanations? And does recognition of such explanations mean that children will no longer endorse incorrect teleological statements?

In a recently published paper, LSRI members, Johnny Halls, Shaaron Ainsworth and Mary Oliver report two studies that attempted to answer these questions.

You can read about these results of these studies here.  

Halls, J.G., Ainsworth, S.E. & Oliver, M.C. (2021) Using dialogic interventions to decrease children’s use of inappropriate teleological explanations, International Journal of Science Education, https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2021.1936271