There are several key reasons for linking classroom activities to the elements of the students’ everyday life experiences in the context of science education. Unlike adults, who are capable of accepting theories based on a series of logical conclusions, children need to link the concepts taught at school to the elements of everyday life; otherwise, new information will not be processed and used for not only carrying out typical tasks but also solving complex problems (Scamp, 2012). By analyzing the strategies that teachers can possibly use to stretch the boundaries and help young students realize that science, in fact, is a set of complex methods of cognizing the world.
However, by far the most complicated issue regarding teaching science to young children concerns the process of translating scientific concepts for the latter to fit into the child’s vision of the world (Harlen & Qualter, 2009). Hence, the need to look at what children’s ideas are, as well as analyze the specifics of children’s cognitive process arises. Seeing how there is a considerable difference between the cognitive process of children and adult students (Kamphaus, 2005), it will be required to consider the methods that may possibly help young students relate the school material to their daily experience, thus, learning to understand the mechanisms of the scientific method and laws of nature, as well as spot the implementations of these laws in everyday life.
Hence the specifics of the research questions stem. It is required to analyze the peculiarities of children’s perception of reality and adapt lessons to these peculiarities in order to help students relate class experiences with real-life ones. The given paper is going to provide the answers to the following questions:
- What classroom activities can possibly incorporate the theory and its implementation in the form of life experiences of the young students partaking in the activity in question?
- What specific pedagogic approaches may enhance the student-teacher relationships so that students could display a keen interest in the subject matter and be able to relate the newly acquired information to their daily experiences on their own, therefore, developing the skills of analytical thinking?
Methodology
Seeing how the given research will require a thorough analysis of the existing strategies for teaching science to young and adult students, as well as the exploration of children’s vision of the world and its laws, it will be reasonable to suggest that a qualitative case study with the elements of quantitative research must be carried out. In other words, it will be necessary to consider several case studies concerning teaching science to young and adult students, as well as on the possibilities regarding the enlargement of the space of science education, base the research on a theory of cognitive development (Piaget’s theory is recommended for the given study (Robson, 2006)), define the recurring patterns with children’s perception of the world and understanding of the material taught at school (Abell, Appleton & Hanuscin, 2010), and design a feasible theory concerning science education space increase based on the outcomes of the research.
The analysis and comparison of learning environments is also to be carried out along with the rest of the tasks in order to define the means to integrate the students’ daily experience of observing the laws of nature into their understanding of the basic scientific theories are also to be accomplished and, therefore, are an important part of the methodology of the given research. The outcomes of the observations and the research results will be used to improve the present-day curricula for primary school students in public schools. Once understand the algorithm of young students’ perception of science-related theories and recognition of these theories working in real life, teachers will be able to attain more fruitful results in teaching young students science (Thatch, 2008).
Methods
- Collection of data regarding young children’s understanding of scientific laws being put into practice in the real world, integration of Piaget’s theory of cognition, and the further analysis of key case studies related to young students’ understanding of scientific laws, the methods for teaching older students to find the links between theory and its practical implementation when it comes to science, and a synthesis of the aforementioned works into a complex method for approaching younger students with the concept of everyday experiences in science studies;
- Designing outdoor lessons for students, during which students can observe some of the laws studied at class working in real life;
- Designing classroom experiments, which will help students watch the principles studied as a theory come to life in an experimental environment;
- Teaching students to be independent in their study of the world around them and encouraging them to notice the ways in which science works in the realm of everyday life both during classes and without the teacher’s supervision (e.g., at home, during school breaks, etc.), as well as sharing their experience with the teacher, fellow students, parents, etc.
Despite the fact that the latter is by far the most complicated task, a teacher must encourage students’ need for self-education (Malloy, Marinak & Gambrell, 2010) and the following lifelong learning (Cambridge, 2010). Thus, making them curious about their own findings is the best way to help young students become independent in their academic life.
Data Generation Tools
Collecting data for the research in question is quite a complicated task since it will be necessary to define the key specifics of information acquisition, processing and application in young students in general, whereas every child is unique and, therefore, has his/her own information analysis patterns. Thus, conducting a case study seems the most reasonable choice to be made. Such a tool as a case study analysis will help understand the mechanisms behind children’s analysis of data acquired in the course of a lesson.
For a case study to work as a data generation tool in the given research setting, it will be necessary to choose participants from several schools (at least three schools must be included in the research). Since the research is targeted at identifying the cognition patterns of young students, primary schools will be the key setting of the research. It can be assumed that around 300 participants will suffice for delivering accurate results and developing a cohesive strategy for teaching young students to relate their newly acquired knowledge to their everyday environment. After outdoor lessons, which will be related to the topic of the lessons and help students train the newly acquired skills in their everyday environment, will have been designed, the student’s behavior and especially their ability to spot the manifestations of natural laws in the realm of everyday life will be checked.
The estimated time of the given research is going to take around three years. The study of children developing the above-mentioned skills will be split into the following stages:
- choice of schools and students (one week);
- designing tests to evaluate students’ skills and conducting the assessment (1 week);
- designing outdoor activities for students in each school and class to train their skills (each month during three years);
- designing tests to evaluate students’ progress and conducting the assessment (every two months during three years);
- analyzing results of the tests and making the necessary corrections to the lessons and outdoor activities design;
- conducting a major evaluation of students’ progress three years later.
Reference List
Abell, S. K., Appleton, K. & Hanuscin, D. L. (2010). Designing and teaching the elementary science methods course. New York City, NY: Routledge.
Cambridge, D. (2010). Eportfolios for lifelong learning and assessment. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Harlen, W. & Qualter, A. (2009). The teaching of science in primary schools. New York City, NY: Routledge.
Kamphaus, R. W. (2005). Clinical assessment of child and adolescent intelligence. Athens, GA: Springer.
Malloy, J. A., Marinak, M. A. & Gambrell, L. B. (2010). Essential readings on motivation. New York City, NY: International Reading Association.
Robson, S. (2006). Developing thinking and understanding in young children: An introduction for students. New York City, NY: Routledge.
Scamp, K. (2012). Teaching primary science constructively. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.
Thatch, la V. L. (2008). A case study of an elementary science teacher’s efforts to transform students’ scientific communication from ‘informal science talk’ to ‘formal science talk.’ Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest.