Keyword: solar cells

ABSTRACT: The fundamentals of experimental science didactics have proven that compulsory education students need to develop skills such as critical thinking. Guided inquiry is a practical methodology for developing various science skills. Moreover, current legislation establishes a series of specific competencies that students must develop. This work presents research carried out with students aged 13–14 years. A project, based on the problem-based learning methodology, on a real-world topic close to the students was implemented to assess the development of critical thinking and specific competencies outlined in legislation. For this purpose, a teaching-learning sequence was developed, and the students’ outputs were collected through questionnaires and teacher observation sheets. The results show that students can answer each of the problems encountered during the project, posing researchable questions and finding solutions through experimentation. Each of the sessions has demonstrated clear progress in several key areas such as the development of some of the required competencies and overall scientific skills, thereby facilitating overall development.