Floating under examination in early childhood education classrooms. Assessment of teacher guidance level
Abstract
The study examines the understanding of the concept of floating in children aged 4 and 5 and the learning generated by using two methodological approaches which differ in teacher guidance level: responsive teaching (RT) and RT plus explicit instruction (RTEI). Initially, students find it difficult to conceptualize floating, have contradictory ideas and demonstrate limitations when trying to solve problems on the subject. They consider weight as a priority factor for an object to float or sink. The intervention improves students’ ability to describe the phenomenon and solve different tasks about floating, although this improvement is more significant in the groups that follow a RTEI approach. When differentiating by age, guidance influence is more pronounced in the youngest students. Therefore, we can conclude that explicit instruction must be considered when planning scientific content activities.
Keywords
Early childhood education, Science, Floating, Teacher guidanceReferences
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