Atom Surprise: Using Theatre in Primary Science Education

Autor/inn/en	Peleg, Ran; Baram-Tsabari, Ayelet
Titel	Atom Surprise: Using Theatre in Primary Science Education
Quelle	In: Journal of Science Education and Technology, 20 (2011) 5, S.508-524 (17 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1059-0145
DOI	10.1007/s10956-011-9299-y
Schlagwörter	Play; Student Attitudes; Learning Motivation; Grade 1; Science Education; Questionnaires; Interviews; Evaluation Methods; Grade 2; Grade 3; Grade 4; Grade 5; Grade 6; Age Differences; Data Analysis; Educational Environment + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Spiel; Schülerverhalten; Motivation for studies; Lernmotivation; School year 01; 1. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 01; Naturwissenschaftliche Bildung; Fragebogen; Interviewing; Interviewtechnik; School year 02; 2. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 02; School year 03; 3. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 03; School year 04; 4. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 04; School year 05; 5. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 05; School year 06; 6. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 06; Age; Difference; Age difference; Altersunterschied; Auswertung; Lernumgebung; Pädagogische Umwelt; Schulumwelt
Abstract	Early exposure to science may have a lifelong effect on children's attitudes towards science and their motivation to learn science in later life. Out-of-class environments can play a significant role in creating favourable attitudes, while contributing to conceptual learning. Educational science theatre is one form of an out-of-class environment, which has received little research attention. This study aims to describe affective and cognitive learning outcomes of watching such a play and to point to connections between theatrical elements and specific outcomes. "Atom Surprise" is a play portraying several concepts on the topic of matter. A mixed methods approach was adopted to investigate the knowledge and attitudes of children (grades 1-6) from two different school settings who watched the play. Data were gathered using questionnaires and in-depth interviews. Analysis suggested that in both schools children's knowledge on the topic of matter increased after the play with younger children gaining more conceptual knowledge than their older peers. In the public school girls showed greater gains in conceptual knowledge than boys. No significant changes in students' general attitudes towards science were found, however, students demonstrated positive changes towards science learning. Theatrical elements that seemed to be important in children's recollection of the play were the narrative, props and stage effects, and characters. In the children's memory, science was intertwined with the theatrical elements. Nonetheless, children could distinguish well between scientific facts and the fictive narrative. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10