An Interdisciplinary Approach to Investigate Preschool Children's Implicit Inferential Reasoning in Scientific Activities

Autor/in	Convertini, Josephine
Titel	An Interdisciplinary Approach to Investigate Preschool Children's Implicit Inferential Reasoning in Scientific Activities
Quelle	In: Research in Science Education, 51 (2021) 1, S.171-186 (16 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0157-244X
DOI	10.1007/s11165-020-09957-3
Schlagwörter	Interdisciplinary Approach; Preschool Children; Kindergarten; Inferences; Critical Thinking; Difficulty Level; Problem Solving; Persuasive Discourse; Science Activities; STEM Education; Manipulative Materials; Logical Thinking + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Fächerübergreifender Unterricht; Fächerverbindender Unterricht; Interdisziplinarität; Pre-school age; Preschool age; Child; Children; Pre-school education; Preschool education; Vorschulalter; Kind; Kinder; Vorschulkind; Vorschulkinder; Vorschulerziehung; Vorschule; Inference; Inferenz; Kritisches Denken; Schwierigkeitsgrad; Problemlösen; Persuasion; Persuasive Kommunikation; STEM; Hilfsmittel
Abstract	The implementation of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) at school is one of the challenges of education in the twenty-first century, especially concerning the development of critical thinking during argumentative interactions. In this paper, I refer to an interdisciplinary approach with the aim to analyze the implicit inferential reasoning emerging in argumentative discussions among children during scientific activities. The study involved 25 preschool children at a kindergarten engaged in three problem solving tasks. The first activity was to build a tunnel, the second to build a bridge--both with the use of Lego©--and the third to build an hourglass with recycled materials. The tasks were video-recorded and the discussions transcribed. The analysis implied different steps: first, I identified the argumentative structure of each exchange according to the pragma-dialectical approach; then, I found the implicit premises using the Argumentum Model of Topics; afterward, I analyzed the argumentative discussions according to a sociocultural approach. The findings show a predominance of arguments based on causal relationships and indicate how children reason regarding complex aspects of a problem, such as the negative consequences of an action, the adequacy of the available tools, and the (possible) future conditions connected to the scientific activity they are involved in. The study opens a possibility to shift from how to implement STEM activities to what children already do when engaged in scientific tasks. It also encourages the adoption of an interdisciplinary approach to investigating the complex process of argumentation in preschool children. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2022/1/01