Aiming to study and offer methodological tools that further the development of logical reasoning and the learner autonomy, this research assesses whether and how the participants in a summer school biology develop the pattern If / and / then / and or but / therfore described by Anton Lawson. The author postulates that this pattern of hypothetical-deductive reasoning is common in the way humankind acquires knowledge and scientific research. The pedagogical approach of the course where the research was conducted adopt the principles of Problem Based Learning (PBL) and aims to encourage participants to produce their own knowledge from problems investigated by experiments with scientific methodology. The audience of course were high school students and teachers of physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics. The seminars for socialization the activities and results achieved by them were videotaped. The analysis of these discourses revealed that Lawson`s pattern is developed, but not consciously and not clearly expressed in a few steps. The expected results for the tests is confused with the hypothesis, confirming a universal tendency pointed out by Lawson. In light of cognitivism of Piaget and Ausubel, is shown the importance of making predictions, because these can drive prior knowledge, creating opportunities for construction and/or discovery new knowledge. Some participant teachers showed discomfort in question what seems obvious. The students showed difficulty in formulating problem issues related to their daily lives. But, as they explored the animal collection, began to make puzzling observations and new questions, suggesting predominant thoughts of concrete cognitive functioning and pointing to the need for actions to stimulate hypothetical-deductive thought. With the evolution of the activities, it was noted advances in reasoning and argumentation of participants in general. It is conclude that adopt patterns like Lawson`s one is useful in the task of promoting thinking skills, as it provides a tool for observing and assessing how students are thinking, giving to the teacher an opportunity to plan pedagogical actions and interventions. It is also conclude that the experimental activity can be rich in stimulating situations of logical reasoning, since it is accompanied by moments of reflection. The results also speak in favor of the Problem-Based Learning as stimulatory of intrinsic motivation and higher cognitive skills. It is measured that to know how to seek the answer is more important than knowing the answer, which require curriculum changes in order that really teaching thinking skills is a priority in relation to the transfer of large amount of theoretical knowledge.
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