La formación de niños como investigadores en la feria de las ciencias y creatividad de Coahuila

This work is a study of children in the fourth, fifth and sixth years of primary school who carried out research projects for the 2018 science and creativity fair organized by the State Council of Science and Technology of Coahuila in coordination with CONACyT. The research was carried out with the purpose of having a profile of the research process that children carry out when they are asked to develop a project to present it at the fair. The results of the projects were evaluated by 17 evaluators and researchers selected by the State Council for Science and Technology with pre-established formats on Likert-type scales and classified into scientific, technological and citizen types. The original scales were transformed with a standardized method of the Spanish version of the SF-36 Health Questionnaire to work the data on a scale from zero to 100, in such a way that multivariate analyzes such as discriminant analysis and factor analysis could be performed. The results show a profile of child researchers where there are eight variables that constitute the basic structure as researchers and a complementary profile that refers to the information and communication of the results of their projects. These variables of his basic profile are: Identify problems, have Clarity about the Project, collect data appropriately, Make and record field observations, Plan and carry out an investigation in the local environment, with a defined purpose, relate their learning to the everyday life, uses reliable sources of information, and develops new knowledge.