Awakening to chemistry through storytelling and practical activities: middle school students interacting with pre-school children

Abstract

A storytelling approach has been seen as a powerful way to teach science and arouse interest and promote positive attitudes toward learning science in the early years. The purpose of our study was to determine how middle school students – Key Stage 3 (KS3) aged 12–14 in Portuguese schools – experienced learning chemistry through storytelling and how they, in turn, experienced creating stories using a storytelling approach with pre-school children. We aimed to perceive the appropriation of concepts of chemistry by the pre-school children through their drawings, the results collected during the pedagogical intervention and the recordings of the discussions between the pre-school children, the students and the pre-school teachers. The KS3 students were also given a self-assessment questionnaire as a way of assessing the pedagogical dynamics and the drive and motivation to learn chemistry. The study involved 53 children: 16 from KS3 and 37 from pre-school. The intervention took place during the KS3 students’ chemistry classes and during the pre-schoolers’ “storytelling moment”, a weekly 1 hour activity that took place at their kindergarten. We found that the use of a storytelling approach complemented with hands-on activities, as a strategy to teach acid–base content to KS3 students, contributed to their learning. Moreover, it was an important experience, which motivated them to write their stories and to prepare the activities for the pre-schoolers. We also found that the interaction of the older students with the pre-schoolers was profitable for both parts, since this type of activity promotes the acquisition of knowledge. During the “storytelling moment” and the hands-on activities with the pre-schoolers, we were able to witness that the younger students understood the concepts, enjoyed the interaction and felt captivated to learn science, through the questions they posed, the informal conversations and the drawings they made. This study showed us that the use of stories and hands-on activities is an effective strategy in motivating young people to learn chemistry.

Narrating science: Can it benefit science learning, and how? A theoretical review

“…Interventions with science narratives have also reported behaviors suggestive of active learning, an intrinsically motivated type of learning (Deci & Ryan, 1982) expressed through autonomy, initiative, and responsibility for one's learning (Kane, 2004). Students were curious (e.g., Akarsu et al, 2015; Morais & Araújo, 2019), participated actively (e.g., Evangelista, 2008; Kokkotas et al, 2010), engaged in the preparation and execution of tasks (e.g., Klassen, 2007; Kokkotas et al, 2010; Vrasidas et al, 2015) and spontaneously wrote stories (Akarsu et al, 2015) and planning notes (Klassen, 2007). Students also showed interest in learning more about the science topic (Evangelista, 2008; Rosa, 2010) and proactively made additional research on it (Evangelista, 2008; Hadzigeorgiou et al, 2012).…”

Devising a Unique Model for Science Outreach Programmes With Critical Engagement From Teachers Across the 5-19 Age Range

“…Sharp et al ( 2017) agree as they describe how this exploratory approach to science can look unstructured, but children are experiencing something which they have not encountered before. Thus, exploratory play can be centred on scientific ideas (Morais et al, 2019). Therefore, this play should be mediated through the use of hands-on activities, which use familiar everyday objects.…”

“…According to Harlen (2008), delivering science outreach programmes using these approaches will assist the child with their development and understanding of the world around them. Using these hands-on activities, was also described as an effective way to provide active learning experiences as many children often prefer these approaches (Morais et al, 2019).…”

“…35P concludes that "Some children would not have the opportunity to take part in practical work if the outreach work was not available". Morais et al (2019) discuss the progression of scientific concepts and how younger children can categorise these; however, children are unable to process mental models. It was also described is how as a child gets older, it is not possible for them to learn the required scientific ideas by just experiencing everyday situations; this coincides with the much more formal approach and laboratory-based setting of many secondary science classrooms (Morais et al 2019).…”

“…Morais et al (2019) discuss the progression of scientific concepts and how younger children can categorise these; however, children are unable to process mental models. It was also described is how as a child gets older, it is not possible for them to learn the required scientific ideas by just experiencing everyday situations; this coincides with the much more formal approach and laboratory-based setting of many secondary science classrooms (Morais et al 2019). If, as a result of these programmes, the activities help to conceptualise learning because of new approaches of facilitators, then the learner's concept of their self and science becomes more positive, which could influence their future study.…”