The Importance of Teaching and Learning Nature of Science in the Early Childhood Years |
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| Authors: | Valarie L Akerson Gayle A Buck Lisa A Donnelly Vanashri Nargund-Joshi and Ingrid S Weiland |
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| Institution: | (1) Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA;(2) Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA |
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| Abstract: | Though research has shown that students do not have adequate understandings of nature of science (NOS) by the time they exit
high school, there is also evidence that they have not received NOS instruction that would enable them to develop such understandings.
How early is “too early” to teach and learn NOS? Are students, particularly young students, not capable of learning NOS due
to developmental unreadiness? Or would young children be capable of learning about NOS through appropriate instruction? Young
children (Kindergarten through third grade) were interviewed and taught about NOS in a variety of contexts (informal, suburban,
and urban) using similar teaching strategies that have been found effective at teaching about NOS with older students. These
teaching strategies included explicit decontextualized and contextualized NOS instruction, through the use of children’s literature,
debriefings of science lessons, embedded written NOS assessments, and guided inquiries. In each context the researchers interviewed
students prior to and after instruction, videotaped science instruction and maintained researcher logs and field notes, collected
lesson plans, and copies of student work. The researchers found that in each setting young children did improve their understandings
of NOS. Across contexts there were similar understandings of NOS aspects prior to instruction, as well as after instruction.
There were also several differences evident across contexts, and across grade levels. However, it is clear that students as
young as kindergarten are developmentally capable of conceptualizing NOS when it is taught to them. The authors make recommendations
for teaching NOS to young children, and for future studies that explore learning progressions of NOS aspects as students proceed
through school. |
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