Resumen

Science teaching among the student population is a key factor so that a country may count with a critic mass of citizens, scientifically knowledgeable, capable of facilitating and promoting the technological, economical and social development of a nation under a sustainable approach. This article is orientated to show the implementation details of the teaching proposal of the inquiry-based science education (IBSE), a proposal that is internationally positioning itself as an effective tool for the development of scientific, technological and citizen competences among students, within a particular Latin American context: The Small Scientists Project (SSP) in the Tolima Region of Colombia. The results make evident the importance of exogenous factors in the classroom as the institutional context, as well as the presence of endogenous factors linked to the teacher and the student for the success of the Program in this region. Similarly, the main findings propose a methodology on behalf of the teachers and changes in the learning atmosphere of science classes.