Children's concepts of gears and their promotion through play

The mechanical transmission of motion, which is observable in gears’ turning direction (TD) and turning speed (TS) can be understood as part of the core concept “force and motion”. Previous studies have suggested that most children before the age of nine have naïve concepts of gears’ TD and TS. However, these studies relied on children's explanation data and might have therefore underestimated young children's potential. Moreover, these studies did not examine whether preschoolers can overcome their naïve concepts through teaching. Recently, educators have proposed guided play as an educational approach that combines children's play with teacher guidance in a purposefully designed environment. We conducted two subsequent studies. In Study 1, we investigated the children's (naïve) concepts of gears’ TD and TS with a cross‐sectional approach using a nonverbal test procedure. This study comprised 248 children aged 5–10 years and 73 adults. The results showed that the proportion of children with adequate concepts increased with age. More specifically, 7‐ to 8‐year‐olds differed significantly from 5‐ to 6‐year‐olds, indicating a developmental shift around this age. However, naïve concepts of TS were more persistent with age than naïve concepts of TD. Altogether, the results indicated the potential to foster 5‐ to 6‐year‐olds’ concepts of both TD and TS in an intervention. Thus, in Study 2, we developed and tested a guided play intervention to foster 5‐ to 6‐year‐old children's concepts of TD and TS. We conducted a prepost‐intervention design with a guided play group (n = 19) and a free play group (n = 21). The results suggested stronger learning gains in the guided play group (d_TD = 0.337, d_TS = 0.758) than in the free play group (d_TD = 0.224, d_TS = 0.158).     

Reading self‐concepts and task choices for children with reading difficulties

Abstract

This project examined the personal and the social basis of children's self‐concepts about reading. Study 1 [N= 55] was a correlational study. Results suggest a stronger personal than social basis for children's self‐concepts about reading. In particular, children made stronger comparisons among content areas than gender groups. Study 2 [N= 18] was an intervention study. The focus was on the personal basis of self‐concepts, for children with reading difficulties. Results showed that self‐concepts were responsive to the intervention, with associated change in task choices. Findings support a self‐categorization approach to understanding children's self‐concepts, and imply that this approach would be useful in motivating children about reading.

Reading is regarded as integral to general living skills and is central to children's learning across many areas of schooling. This means that we need to understand more about the self‐concepts that motivate children to take up and persist with reading activities. H is a particularly pressing issue for children who experience difficulties with reading. This project therefore examined the personal and social basis of children's self‐concepts about reading. The focus was the salience of children's personal and social categorisations about reading that underpin reading self‐concepts and associated choices of reading tasks.     

Parallelism in the development of children's ideas and the historical development of projectile motion theories

A study of the development of children's conceptions with respect to projectile motion was carried out in Ukraine and Israel, with the participation of 1017 subjects in grades 3 to 12. The purpose of the research was to investigate the fundamental hypothesis of genetic epistemology with respect to concepts of motion. The fundamental hypothesis states that the development of children's concepts of nature parallel the historical development of the concepts. It was found that the development of children's concepts of motion proceeds by stages, with the concepts at each stage parallel to a corresponding historical stage. A mathematical model was constructed to describe development by stages quantitatively. The theoretical model gave an excellent fit to the empirical data, and this supports the hypothesis of parallelism. The two‐country research made it possible to compare the effects of quite different school science curricula upon the development of children's concepts.     

DEVELOPING PEDAGOGICAL KNOWLEDGE THROUGH TEACHER‐WRITTEN CASE STORIES

Abstract

With more children spending the greater part of their waking hours in preschool settings today than they did years ago, teachers play an even more critical role in providing daily literacy experiences that many children of earlier generations received at home. The article focuses on the critical role that preschool teachers play in supporting children's early literacy development and presents an instructional framework to help guide early literacy teaching. The framework is based on Vygotsky's learning theory, which emphasizes the nature and importance of social interactions in instruction, particularly between adult and child. We present activity‐embedded assessments that preschool teachers can use to observe and document children's emerging literacy concepts and skills, and describe key teaching actions that scaffold learning of new concepts. In closing, we offer five principles to guide preschool teachers in planning and implementing appropriate activities to promote young children's literacy development. Sample documentation forms are included in the appendices.     

Young Children's Self‐Concepts Include Representations of Abstract Traits and the Global Self

There is debate about the abstractness of young children's self‐concepts—specifically, whether they include representations of (a) general traits and abilities and (b) the global self. Four studies (N = 176 children aged 4–7) suggested these representations are indeed part of early self‐concepts. Studies 1 and 2 reexamined prior evidence that young children cannot represent traits and abilities. The results suggested that children's seemingly immature judgments in previous studies were due to peculiarities of the task context not the inadequacy of children's self‐concepts. Similarly, Studies 3 and 4 revealed that, contrary to claims of immaturity in reasoning about the global self, young children update their global self‐evaluations in flexible, context‐sensitive ways. This evidence suggests continuity in the structure of self‐concepts across childhood.     

Scientific concept development in Solomon Island students: a comparative analysis

Abstract

This paper summarises the results of an investigation of Solomon Islands secondary school students’ interpretations of three concepts: vision, animals and burning. Internal comparisons among the three areas and external comparisons with findings reported from other societies are made. While some support is given to the idea that children from different cultures may develop similar conceptions, this support is qualified and is shown to be dependent on the type of phenomenon investigated. The degree to which there is immediate personal experience of phenomena may be important, as may the presence or absence of culturally supported explanations. The commonly reported resistance of children's conceptions to school science teaching is also shown not to be universally true. The article ends with a plea for caution in the cross‐cultural extrapolation of research into children's conceptions.     

American and Chinese children's understanding of basic relational concepts in directions

Two hundred first‐ and second‐grade Chinese children's knowledge of basic relational concepts in following directions was assessed on the Applications Booklet of the Boehm Test of Basic Concepts‐Revised (BTBC‐R, 1986). Chinese children's performance was then compared with that of the standardization sample of the BTBC‐R. Results indicated that both the American and Chinese children made significant improvements between the end of first and second grades, yet both American and Chinese children experienced difficulties on items such as following multiple‐step directions. American children, but not Chinese children, had difficulties following directions involving the concepts of right and left in combination with other relational concepts, the quantity concept of equal, and comparative and superlative features such as farther and farthest. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 41: 261–272, 2004.     

Children's ideas about ecology 1: theoretical background,design and methodology

Abstract

This paper provides an introduction to a study of the ecological understandings of children aged 5‐16 years in schools in the north of England. Children's ideas about selected ecological concepts were elicited through a series of written tasks and individual interviews set in a range of contexts, referred to here as probes. Responses of about 200 pupils, across the age range, were obtained on each probe. In this paper, issues relating to theoretical background, design and methodology are outlined. Two further papers present the major findings of the study: the first reports children's ideas about the cycling of matter between organisms and between organisms and the abiotic environment (Leach et al. in press a); the second reports children's ideas about the interdependency of organisms in ecosystems (Leach et al. in press b).     

Putting literature at the heart of the literacy curriculum

This paper documents an initiative in Continuing Professional Development, conceived and carried out by London's Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE). The intention was to improve the teaching and learning of writing in Years 5 and 6 of the primary school (9–11‐year‐olds), through working with challenging literature. This teacher education project drew on CLPE's earlier research project, published as The Reader in the Writer ( Barrs and Cork, 2001 ). Classroom approaches developed through the initiative are described, and qualitative and quantitative changes in children's writing are discussed. Patterns of teaching in the classrooms that appear to have made a particular difference to the children's achievement are explored.     

Can earlier literacy skills have a negative impact on future home literacy activities? Evidence from Japanese

We examined the cross‐lagged relations between the home literacy environment and literacy skills in Japanese, and whether child's gender, parents' education and child's level of literacy performance moderate the relations. One hundred forty‐two Japanese children were followed from Grades 1 to 2 and assessed on character knowledge, reading fluency and spelling. Their parents responded to a questionnaire assessing the frequency of their teaching and shared reading. Results showed that parent teaching increased and shared reading decreased from Grades 1 to 2. Cross‐lagged path analysis indicated that the literacy skills in Grade 1 were negatively associated with parent teaching in Grade 2. The results further suggested that more educated parents of higher performing children, particularly boys, adjusted their involvement to their children's literacy skills, while less educated parents of lower performing children did not. These findings indicate the importance of parents' sensitivity to their child's performance. What is already known about this topic

• Home literacy environment (HLE) plays an important role in children's literacy acquisition in Western and some East Asian contexts.
• Children's early reading skills can have an impact on later HLE.
• The direction of the relationship between HLE and children's reading skills may change from positive in Kindergarten to negative in Grade 1.

What this paper adds

• In line with the findings of previous studies in other languages, Japanese parents adaptively adjust their home literacy activities to their child's literacy skills.
• The effect of children's literacy skills on later shared reading is stronger among boys than among girls.
• More educated parents of higher performing children adjust their involvement to their child's literacy skills, while less educated parents with lower performing children do not.

Implications for theory, policy or practice

• We should encourage parents to be sensitive to their child's literacy skills to help them build a foundation that will boost future literacy development.
• This can be particularly true of less educated parents with poorly performing children.
• We should encourage educators to communicate the children's literacy achievement to their parents and also suggest the means by which HLE could be beneficial for their children's literacy development.

     

Enhancing reading self‐concepts that ‘feed forward’ to improve task choices for children with reading difficulties

Abstract

This report considers children's self‐concepts that feed forward to support their choice to participate in reading activities, following coleman and Bornholt (2003). Participants were 10 of 11 year old girls and boys (N=55), including children with reading difficulties and low self‐concepts about reading (N=18). Part 1 was a co relational study Results suggest that various choices combine to indicate children's reading choice behaviours, and reading self‐concepts were assoicated with reading choice behaviours. Part 2 was a brief experiment for children with reading difficulties individually reading choice behaviour. it was concluded that concepts, and feed forward to enhance children's reading choice behaviour. It was concluded that the personal and social based to self‐concepts also support and constrain children's participation in reading activities. The main applications of these findings are for the design of sustained reading motivation programmes in clinical and education settings.     

From Doing to Learning: Changed focus during a pre-school learning study project on organic decomposition

We explored the use of the learning study (LS) model in developing Swedish pre-school science learning. This was done by analysing a 3-cycle LS project implemented to help a group of pre-school teachers (n?=?5) understand their science educational practice, by collaboratively and systematically challenging it. Data consisted of video recordings of 1 screening (n?=?7), 1 initial planning meeting, 3 analysis meetings, 3 interventions, and 78 individual test interviews with the children (n?=?26). The study demonstrated that the teachers were initially uncomfortable with using scientific concepts and with maintaining the children's focus on the object of learning without framing it with play. During the project, we noted a shift in focus towards the object of learning and how to get the children to discern it. As teachers’ awareness changed, enhanced learning was noted among the children. The study suggests that the LS model can promote pre-school science learning as follows: by building on, re-evaluating, and expanding children's experiences; and by helping the teachers focus on and contrast critical aspects of an object of learning, and to reflect on the use of play, imagination, and concepts and on directing the children's focus when doing so. Our research showed that the LS model holds promise to advance pre-school science learning by offering a theoretical tool useable to shift the focus from doing to learning while teaching science using learning activities.     

Systematic review of young children's writing on screen: what do we know and what do we need to know

Writing is part and parcel of children's active meaning‐making on and with screens, but it has been relatively neglected in the literature focused on children's digital literacies. This study synthesises existing empirical evidence focused on young children's (aged between 2 and 8 years) writing on screen and identifies the relationships between dominant themes in published literature and contemporary theories of children's technology use. A systematic literature review that included studies from diverse disciplines yielded 21 papers. Constant comparative analysis generated five themes that indicate four key directions for future research. We call attention to researchers' theoretical framing to supplement mono‐disciplinary approaches and single levels of analysis. We suggest that future research should provide greater specification of the purpose of children's writing on screen and the different types of tools and applications supporting the activity. We also highlight the need for interdisciplinary approaches that would capture the composing stages involved in the writing process with and around screens. Finally, we point out possible age‐related differences in documenting and reporting the composing process in classrooms. Overall, limitations in the current evidence base highlight the need for research conducted from a critical perspective and focused more directly on multimodality.     

“Poetry? Of course we do it. It's in the National Curriculum.” Primary children's perceptions of poetry

What can listening to children's ideas about poetry teach us? This article considers ways in which exploring primary‐aged students' perceptions of poetry can inform teachers' work with children. Using strategies from earlier studies in secondary schools, a small‐scale project with Year 6 students revealed their complex and sometimes contradictory ideas. These ideas reflect some of the current debates around the nature of poetry and ways of teaching it. The children's ideas are analysed with critical attention paid to the impact of the view of literacy in England's National Literacy Strategy on the teaching and learning of poetry.     

Behavioural objectives in a reading programme: An experiment

Maria Edgeworth was a nineteenth century novelist, primarily remembered for her adult and children's novels. Yet her book, Letters for literary ladies discussed the importance of science education for girls and in conjunction with her father, Richard Edgeworth, she wrote several treatises on education. Their book Practical education advocates an inquiry approach to teaching science and also using scientific practices, such as observation and data collection, to examine and plan children's education. They emphasised the importance and the role of experimentation, observation and critical thinking in the development of children's knowledge, skills and attitudes towards learning. However, the history of science education has to date ignored this seminal work and Maria's contributions to women's science education.     

A Factor Analysis of Preschool Children's Play Strategies and Cognitive Style

ABSTRACT The social behaviours of 2400 3‐, 4and 5‐year old children attending an early childhood programme were observed, recorded, and analysed, and their cognitive style assessed. Factors underlying the play of preschool children based on their cognitive style were identified. Sex and age were considered in these social factors. ThePlay Rating Scale was used to record young children's behaviours in four different forms of play (physical, block, manipulative, dramatic); while theGoodenough‐Harris Drawing Test was used to determine the children's cognitive style. Factor analysis indicated two dimensions of play behaviours for each group of children. These factors had strong loadings with a range of items. The factors indicated that field‐dependent children participated more in social play activities, whereas field‐independent children engaged more in nonsocial play activities. The study suggests practical and research implications in promoting educational play using the children's cognitive style.     

Exploring children's learning stories as an assessment method for research and practice

The purpose of this study was to apply and explore, in the context of an Icelandic preschool, the methods developed by the New Zealand Te Whaariki curriculum to assess children's well‐being and learning dispositions. This article describes the process of piloting learning stories as a research method, where researchers and preschool teachers cooperate in generating data. Data were generated by means of interviews, observations and documentation, following a research process in which learning stories were documented, reflected upon and analysed by the researchers and teachers, where possible in cooperation with the four‐ to five‐year‐old children. The learning stories were constructed and analysed using the five domains of learning dispositions identified in the Te Whaariki curriculum. The study asks how a collaborative approach to assessing children's well‐being and learning dispositions could be used in preschools both for professional learning and for research purposes. The findings show children as skilful communicators who are capable of finding solutions and reacting to various situations arising from the social context of the preschool. The study demonstrates that documenting children's learning stories enables researchers to focus on children's strengths and capabilities, and adds to preschool teachers' knowledge of individual children and groups.     

Early learning about light: mapping preschool children's thinking about light before,during and after involvement in a two week teaching program

This paper reports the findings of a study which sought to first, find out four‐year‐old children's views on light and dark and second, trace the development of children's thinking about the scientific concept of light during a two‐week teaching program.     

Studying children's knowledge base of one-sided levers as force amplifiers

Attention to core concepts in science and engineering in early education has grown recently, and understanding levers as force amplifiers can be recognized as one of these. Previous studies focused on two-sided levers and do not provide sufficient information about children's knowledge of levers as force amplifiers, nor about their learning and its support from an education perspective. It is important to consider load distance and force distance separately, as may be done in one-sided levers, to understand children's knowledge of levers as “simple machines” thoroughly. Moreover, children's zone of proximal development and the possibilities to foster their knowledge should be explored to understand important features of teaching. We thus directed two studies with 6- to 7-year-old children. In study 1, we conducted a paper-and-pencil test in the context of wheelbarrows (N = 370; age M = 6.62). We investigated whether it is possible to empirically separate the features load, load distance, and force distance as well as to determine their level of difficulty. Our study showed that children's concepts of the three aspects load, load distance, and force distance are fragmented, with children finding it continuously more difficult to judge load, load distance, and force distance correctly. In study 2, we developed a 20-min intervention with a controlled 2 × 2 pre-post follow-up design for exploring the zone of proximal development of 304 6- to 7-year-old children in the domain of one-sided levers as force amplifiers, focusing on force distance and load distance. We implemented a structured learning environment that encouraged the children to manipulate wheelbarrows and supported them with pictures and/or verbal prompts. 6- to 7-year-old children had a higher learning gain when they were exposed to scaffolds that combined pictures and verbal prompts in the posttest as well as in the follow-up test four weeks later compared to the control group.