ERIC Number: EJ719766
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2005-Feb-25
Pages: 21
Abstractor: Author
Reference Count: 35
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0950-0693
Examining Young Children's Conceptual Change Process in Floating and Sinking from a Social Constructivist Perspective
Havu-Nuutinen, Sari
International Journal of Science Education, v27 n3 p259-279 Feb 2005
This paper presents a case study of the process of conceptual change in six-year-old children. The process of conceptual change in learning about floating and sinking is described from two different viewpoints: how the children's conceptions change during the instructional process, and how the social discussion during the experimental exploration can be seen in terms of the cognitive changes in the children. Based on qualitative analysis of verbal data, changes in the children's conceptions were mostly epistemological and the children's theories of flotation became more complete with respect to the scientific view. From the viewpoint of the conceptual change, conceptually orientated teacher-child interactions seemed to support the children's cognitive progress in cognitive skills and guided the children to consider the reasons for the flotation.
Descriptors: Science Instruction, Constructivism (Learning), Concept Formation, Scientific Concepts, Cognitive Development, Young Children, Verbal Communication, Teacher Student Relationship, Discourse Analysis
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Early Childhood Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers: N/A

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