Science for All Children A Guide to Improving Elementary Science Education in Your School District (1997) / Chapter Skim
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2. How Children Learn
2. How Children Learn
Pages 21-31
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From page 21... ...
Their work has resulted in an impressive belly of research about the learning process. Building on and modifying the foundation laid by Jean Piaget in the 1920s through the 1960s,~ cognitive scientists have been able to draw some general conclusions about what is needed for effective learning to take place.
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From page 22... ...
We now know that children con struct understanding and develop theories about the world on the basis of their experience. Lauren Resnick describes the process as follows: "Learners try to link new information to what they already know in order to interpret the new material in terms of established schemata."2 The implication of this for educators is that it is important to begin building children's experiential base in the primary grades by providing research-basecI, inquiry-centered experiences.
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From page 23... ...
He describes it as a "trigger" that helps build crucial connections in the brain. These connections enable children to synthesize specific pieces of information, such as observations of color, form, and texture of an object, into the larger concept of one object with 23
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From page 24... ...
With an array of sensory information flooding into the brain, coupled with growing motor skills and cognitive abilities, it is imperative for even the very young child to organize the ciata. The way children begin to structure information in their minds depends on a variety of factors, including their individual experiences, their temperament and personality, and their culture.
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From page 25... ...
Although the temperature of the sweaters stayed consistently at 68 degrees Fahrenheit, the students did not accept this evidence immediately. One student, Katie, wrote in her journal: "Hot anti cold are sometimes strange.
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From page 26... ...
This is often done through a class discussion, where students share what they know about the topic en cl what they would like to learn more about. For the teacher, this is a good time to develop an understanding of students' current knowledge and possible misconceptions and to consider how to incorporate this information into the planned lessons.
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From page 27... ...
Ensuring That the Curriculum Is Developmentally Appropriate While the learning cycle provides a framework for a pedagogical approach, educators must still decide what content to include in the science program. To do so, they must understand children's intellectual development.
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From page 28... ...
For example, when observing weather, primary school students can study variables such as temperature, wind, and precipitation separately; it is not appropriate to expect them to understand the relationships among these variables. By the upper elementary grades, however, students will be able to consider such phenomena as how wind influences the perceived temperature (the "wind-chill" factor)
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From page 29... ...
By age 16, students can understand highly complex organizational schemes, such as the periodic chart of elements and the structure of DNA. If these developmental steps are not reflected in science instructional materials, there will be a mismatch between what children are capable of doing and what they are being asked to do.
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From page 30... ...
Children begin forming theories about the world long before they have accurate factual information, and they hold on tightly to these early ideas and theories. For this reason, educators need to be aware that it can take children a long time and many different encounters with a new concept to achieve conceptual understanding.
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From page 31... ...
1996. National Science Education Standards.
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