Children's preconceptions of science: how these can be used in teaching

Kambouri, M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5591-9418 (2015) Children's preconceptions of science: how these can be used in teaching. Early years educator (EYE), 16 (11). pp. 38-44. ISSN 1465-931X doi: 10.12968/eyed.2015.16.11.38

Abstract/Summary

This paper focuses on young children’s initial ideas about science prior to any teaching and discusses teachers’ identification of these ‘preconceptions’ when teaching science in the early years. The research focuses on early years teaching in public and private kindergartens with children from three to five. The area of the children’s preconceptions has been extensively investigated by other researchers in the past. However, research focusing on children’s preconceptions and how teachers work with these in the early years is still limited in comparison, especially within Cypriot context. A case study was employed which facilitated in-depth investigation employing different methods of data collection including interviews and observations. The results indicate that teachers tend to avoid identification of the children’s preconceptions when planning and teaching science. This suggests a lack of appreciation of the children’s preconceptions and the consequences when they are not acknowledged. To help teachers respond to the children’s preconceptions, this paper provides a number of suggestion on how to identify children’s preconceptions.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/59770
Identification Number/DOI	10.12968/eyed.2015.16.11.38
Refereed	No
Divisions	Arts, Humanities and Social Science > Institute of Education > Improving Equity and Inclusion through Education
Publisher	Mark Allen Group
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