Preservice Early Childhood Teachers Use of Graphs as Mental Tools in Internalizing Scientific Concepts

Year 2017, Volume: 11 Issue: 1, 364 - 380, 30.06.2017

Mesut Saçkes , Kathy Cabe Trundle

https://doi.org/10.17522/balikesirnef.356304

Cited By: 1

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine how preservice early childhood
teachers used graphs as a mental tool in a science methods course to make sense
of their data and how graph use facilitated preservice teachers’
internalization of scientific concepts. Twenty-six preservice early childhood teachers
participated in the study. Data were collected through participant observation
technique. Field notes were kept to record observations and discourse taking
place during the classroom observations. The current
study utilized a Vygotskian framework in the analysis and the interpretation of
the study data. The
results demonstrated that using the graph as a mediating tool facilitated
preservice teachers’ understanding of the targeted science concepts by
organizing their data in a way that could reduce the burden of cognitive load
to process information, which made it possible for higher psychological
functions, such as seeing patterns and deriving conclusions from the pattern,
to operate more efficiently. 

Keywords

preservice early childhood teachers, science methods course, socio-cultural theory, mental tools, astronomy

Okul Öncesi Öğretmen Adaylarının Bilimsel Kavramların İçselleştirmesinde Grafikleri Zihin Aracı Olarak Kullanmaları

Abstract

Bu çalışma okul öncesi öğretmen adaylarının
topladıkları verileri anlamada bir zihin aracı olarak grafikleri nasıl
kullandıklarını ve grafik kullanımının öğretmen adaylarının bilimsel kavramları
içselleştirmesini nasıl kolaylaştırdığını incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Yirmi altı
okul öncesi öğretmen adayı çalışmaya katılmıştır. Araştırma verileri katılımcı
gözlem tekniği ile toplanmıştır. Gözlemler ve gözlem esnasında sınıfta
öğrenciler arasında meydana gelen konuşmalar alan notları biçiminde
kaydedilmiştir. Bu çalışma verilerin analizi ve yorumlanmasında Vygotsky’nin
sosyo-kültürel kuramını temel almıştır. Sonuçlar grafik kullanımının bilişsel
yükü azaltarak ve örüntü tanılama ve örüntüden sonuç çıkarma gibi yüksek düzey
zihinsel fonksiyonların işlemesini sağlayarak okul öncesi öğretmen adaylarının
hedeflenen bilimsel kavramları anlamalarını kolaylaştırdığını göstermiştir.

Keywords

okul öncesi öğretmen adayları, fen eğitimi dersi, sosyo-kültürel kuram, zihin araçları, astronomi

References

• Bogdan, R. C., & Biklen, S. K. (1982). Qualitative research for education: An introduction to theory and methods. Allyn and Bacon MA:Boston.
• Driver, R., Asoko, H., Leach, J., Scott, P., & Mortimer, E. (1994). Constructing scientific knowledge in the classroom. Educational Researcher, 23(7), 5-12.
• Glesne, C., & Peshkin, A. (1992). Becoming qualitative researchers: An introduction. New York: Longman.
• Hewson, P., W. (2004). Resources for science learning: Tools, tasks, and environment. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 2, 201-225.
• Hobson, S. M., Trundle, K. C., & Saçkes, M. (2010). Using a planetarium software program to promote conceptual change with young children. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 19(2), 165-176.
• Jones, M. G., Rua, M. J., & Carter, G. (1998). Science teachers’ conceptual growth within Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 35(9), 967-985.
• Kallery, M., & Psillos, D. (2001). Preschool teachers’ content knowledge in science: Their understanding of elementary science concepts and of issues raised by children’s questions. International Journals of Early Years Education, 9(3), 165-179.
• Lemke, J., L. (2001). Articulating communities: Sociocultural perspectives on science education. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 38(3), 296-316.
• Mercer, N., Dawes, L., Wegerif, R., & Sams, C. (2004). Reasoning as a scientist: Ways of helping children to use language to learn science. British Educational Research Journal, 30(3), 359-377.
• Macbeth, D. (2000). On an actual apparatus for conceptual change. Science Education, 84(2), 228-264.
• Osborne, J., Simon, S., & Collins, S. (2003). Attitudes towards science: a review of the literature and its implications. International Journal of Science Education, 25(9), 1049-1079.
• Renshaw, P., & Brown, R. A. J. (2007). Formats of classroom talk for integrating everyday and scientific discourse: Replacement, interweaving, contextual privileging and pastiche. Language and Education, 21(6), 531-549.
• Roald, I., & Mikalsen, O. (2001) Configuration and dynamics of the Earth-Sun-Moon system: An investigation into conceptions of deaf and hearing pupils. International Journal of Science Education, 23, 423-440.
• Rogoff, B. (2003). The cultural nature of human development. New York: Oxford Univeristy Press.
• Roth, W., & Bowen, G. M. (1999). Of cannibals, missionaries, and coverts: Graphing competencies from grade 8 to professional science inside (classrooms) and outside (field/laboratory). Science, Technology, & Human Values, 24(2), 179-212.
• Schoultz, J., Saljo, R., & Wyndhamn, J. (2001). Heavenly talk: Discourse, artifacts, and children’s understanding of elementary astronomy. Human Development, 44, 103-118.
• Trundle, K. C., Saçkes, M., Smith, M. M., & Miller, H. L. (2012, September). Preschoolers’ ideas about day and night and objects in the sky. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Congress on Early Childhood Education. Adana, Turkey, September 12-15.
• Wells, G., & Claxton, G. (2002). Introduction: Sociocultural perspective on the future of education. In G. Wells & G. Claxton (Eds.). Learning or life in the 21st century (pp.1-18). Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishers.
• Vygotsky, L. V. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychologicalprocess. (edited by, M. Cole, V. John-Steiner, S. Scribner, E. Souberman).Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
• Za’rour, G. I. (1976). Interpretation of natural phenomena by Lebanese school children. Science Education, 60(2), 277-287.