Reassessment of Developmental Constraints on Children’s Science Instruction

Metz, Kathleen E.

doi:10.3102/00346543065002093

Cited by 266 publications

(146 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…Furthermore, these assignments can help preservice teachers recognize that children can learn complex science ideas and engage in authentic scientific practices, when scaffolded (Metz, 1995).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beginning teachers moving toward effective elementary science teaching

Davis

Smithey

2009

Science Education

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ABSTRACT:We use a 10-year program of research centered on iterations of one elementary science methods course as a vehicle for exploring three important and interrelated goals for the learning of beginning elementary teachers. These include learning about inquiryoriented science teaching, using science curriculum materials effectively, and anticipating and working with students' ideas in instruction. For each goal we discuss how the literature informs our thinking, describe relevant aspects of our design of the course, and present findings of our research with regard to preservice teachers' experiences in and learning from aspects of the course. For each goal, we also highlight examples from our longitudinal work following the preservice teachers into their early years as elementary teachers, to provide a glimpse of teachers' trajectories related to each of the themes. We close with a discussion of implications for research and practice in elementary science teacher education.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beginning teachers moving toward effective elementary science teaching

Davis

Smithey

2009

Science Education

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“…As found in previous studies of older primary age children (for example Smith et al (1993) or Smith et al (2000)) , there were examples of young children who could think abstractly as well as concretely and search for patterns or causal mechanisms. In early years science curricula there has been a tendency to focus on processes of observing and describing on the grounds that this is developmentally appropriate (Metz 1995(Metz , 2004). This tendency is reflected for example in early levels of the…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Young Children Understand Electric Circuits: Prediction, explanation and exploration

Glauert¹

2009

International Journal of Science Education

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How young children understand electric circuits 1Running head: How young children understand electric circuits RESEARCH REPORT How young children understand electric circuits: prediction, explanation and explorationHow young children understand electric circuits 2 Abstract This paper reports findings from a study of young children's views about electric circuits. Twenty-eight children aged 5 and 6 were interviewed. They were shown examples of circuits and asked to predict whether they would work and explain why. They were then invited to try out some of the circuit examples or make circuits of their own choosing.Children expressed a variety of views about the connections needed in a circuit, offered different kinds of explanation and showed differing levels of competence in circuit making. The range of responses showed similarities to those of older students found in previous research. The relationship between practical competence, prediction and explanation was not straightforward. For example children with similar levels of practical competence made different predictions or offered different kinds of explanation. Analysis of the circuits children chose to construct suggested influences of existing competence and knowledge. In particular some children tested out circuit examples about which they had been unsure during the interview while others explored circuit connections more generally.Findings underline the importance of drawing on a variety of evidence in assessing young children's understandings of electric circuits. They indicate that young children may offer views about electric circuits not unlike those of older children and adults with similar experience. Finally there was some suggestion that the interview procedure may have acted as an instructive stimulus in helping children to become more conscious of their own views and reflect on their thinking in the light of further evidence. How young children understand electric circuits 3 HOW YOUNG CHILDREN UNDERSTAND ELECTRIC CIRCUITS: PREDICTION, EXPLANATION AND EXPLORATION Introduction BackgroundThis paper presents findings from a study of five and six year old children's views about electric circuits. The study formed part of a wider investigation into young children's responses to classroom activities in electricity (Glauert, 2005), which sought to explore both the nature of children's explorations and evidence of their thinking in relation to simple electric circuits. The present study set out to investigate young children's views of the connections needed in a circuit (how to make circuits) and to probe their explanations for their views (why circuits need to be connected in particular ways). It sought to explore relationships between children's views of connections needed in a circuit, their explanations and the kinds of practical explorations they undertook with simple circuit components. timely to evaluate what young children might be gaining from the common science activities to which they are now being exposed. In particular given the emphasis on...

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“…They should be supported in recognizing the important role teachers play in ensuring children's success in engaging in scientific inquiry. We know that young children can successfully engage in scientific inquiry (Metz, 1995;Schauble et al, 1995) but that they need support to do so.…”

Section: Synthesis and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, because of the high demands put on them, elementary teachers often demonstrate weak subject matter knowledge in science (Anderson & Mitchener, 1994). Teaching inquiryoriented science is especially complex (Crawford, 2000;Metz, 1995) and typically requires teachers to teach in a way that is different from how they were taught (Windschitl, 2003). In addition, recent reviews of science curriculum materials indicate that they may not help teachers much; many textbooks do a poor job of representing scientific content and inquiry (Kesidou & Roseman, 2002) and include numerous scientific inaccuracies (Hubisz, 2003).…”

Section: Teachers and Curriculum Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preservice elementary teachers' critique of instructional materials for science

Davis

2006

Sci. Ed.

106

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Science teachers must adapt curriculum materials, so preservice teachers must develop beginning proficiency with this authentic task of teaching. What criteria do they use when they critique these materials in preparation for adapting them, when they develop the criteria themselves and when they are given a set of criteria from which to choose? These results indicate that the 20 participating preservice elementary teachers held a sophisticated set of criteria for critiquing instructional materials; for example, they paid attention to scientific inquiry and instructional goals. In some cases, providing options from which they could select as a part of the instructional approach taken in the class allowed the preservice teachers to engage in substantive critique of the instructional materials along criteria not prominent in their initial set. Even with explicit support, however, the preservice teachers did not engage in substantive critique about how scientific content is represented. Furthermore, they typically describe inquiry as important to incorporate to promote student interest, not to engage students in genuine scientific activity. It is concluded that critique activities used in science methods courses should be authentic and scaffolded to be optimally effective. Critique along especially challenging dimensions needs systematic, explicit, and perhaps more consistent support.

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Reassessment of Developmental Constraints on Children’s Science Instruction

Cited by 266 publications

References 62 publications

Beginning teachers moving toward effective elementary science teaching

Beginning teachers moving toward effective elementary science teaching

How Young Children Understand Electric Circuits: Prediction, explanation and exploration

Preservice elementary teachers' critique of instructional materials for science

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