Teaching habitat and animal classification to fourth graders using an engineering-design model

The paper reports findings on variable‐handling aspects of pupil performance in investigatory tasks, using data from the British APU national survey programme. It is based on tasks of similar logical structure, undertaken in various formats and response modes and including practical and pencil and paper versions. The tasks are shown to elicit diverse collective and individual responses in terms of variable handling performance, despite their logical similarity. The paper concludes with a discussion of the significance of these findings for assessment methodology and for understanding of 15‐year‐old pupils’ approaches to the variable‐based logic of investigation.