“CHILDREN’S KNOWLEDGE OF

ASTRONOMY AND ITS

CHANGE IN THE COURSE OF
LEARNING”
(HANNUST E KIKAS, 2007)
 Models of Teaching Knowledge
the earth of astronomy

ABOUT THIS PAPER:

This study examined the process of
knowledge acquisition and it’s change
during astronomy lessons.
AIM: “STUDY WAS TO EXAMINE THE NATURE AND
AMOUNT OF CHILDREN’S PRE-EXISTING KNOWLEDGE
ABOUT THE EARTH AND TO SEE WHETHER THEY POSSESS
CONSISTENT MODELS OF THE EARTH BEFORE TEACHING
SESSIONS”.

HYPOTHESID: “ON THE BASIS OF PREVIOUS STUDIES, WE

HYPOTHESIZED THAT CHILDREN’S KNOWLEDGE BEFORE
TEACHING IS MOSTLY FRAGMENTED AND ONLY SOME
CHILDREN MAY SHOW NON-SCIENTIFIC MODELS”.
 SUBJECTS IN THIS RESEARCH

• CHILDREN WITH 5-, 6-, AND 7-YEAR-OLD (ESTÔNIA);

• FIVE GROUPS THAT “GARDEN”.
• IN ESTONIAN SCHOOLS, INSTRUCTION IS MOSTLY VERBAL
BUT IN OUR INTERVENTION WE ALSO INCLUDED ACTIVITIES
WITH MATERIAL UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF THE TEACHER.
“CHILDREN DEVELOP THEIR EVERYDAY CONCEPTS AND THEORIES
ABOUT THE WORLD ON THE BASIS OF DAILY OBSERVATIONS AND
CONVERSATIONS WITH ADULTS”.

Scientific Personal
Astronomia
theory experience
KNOWLEDGE HAS TO BE RESTRUCTURED!

• “IN MOST CASES, RESTRUCTURING REQUIRES ADDITIONAL

VERBAL INSTRUCTION, BECAUSE THE TASK OF MAKING NEW

CONNECTIONS BETWEEN DIFFERENT PIECES OF KNOWLEDGE AND

TRANSFERRING EXISTING KNOWLEDGE INTO NEW AREAS MIGHT

PROVE DIFFICULT” (CAREY, 2000).

“SPECIAL ATTENTION WAS DIRECTED AT CONSISTENT
MODELS BOTH BEFORE AND AFTER LEARNING TO FIND OUT
WHETHER CONSISTENT MODELS INHIBIT UNDERSTANDING
AND WHETHER INSTRUCTION MAY INDUCE CONSISTENT
NON-SCIENTIFIC MODELS. HERE, CONSISTENT MODEL
DESCRIBES KNOWLEDGE STRUCTURES WHERE ALL INDIVIDUAL
FACTS ARE STRONGLY CONNECTED WITH EACH OTHER AND
FORM A COHERENT CONCEPTUAL WHOLE AND IS DIFFERENT
FROM FRAGMENTATION WHERE KNOWLEDGE CONSISTS OF
INDEPENDENT MEMORIZED FACTS THAT MAY BE RELATED TO
DIFFERENT BACKGROUND THEORIES AND THEREFORE MAY BE
INCONSISTENT WITH ONE ANOTHER”.
 METHOD

• 2 GROUPS WITH EXPERIENCE CONTROL;

• 1º PRE TEST;
• 2ºTEACHING; (FIRST SPECIFIC ENTRENCHED BELIEFS AND THAT WAS FOLLOWED
BY THE TEACHER’S VERBAL EXPLANATIONS USING MODELS AND PICTURES.

• DUE TO THE CHILDREN’S AGE, THE LESSONS LASTED FOR A SHORT TIME (ABOUT
10–15 MIN EACH) AND THE SEVEN LESSONS WERE SPREAD OUT OVER 4 WEEKS
LEAVING TIME TO PONDER THE NEW INFORMATION.

• 3º POST TEST (QUESTIONS AND DRAWINGS).

 METHOD
• SPECIFIC ENTRENCHED BELIEFS (ALTERNATIVE CONCEPTIONS):
• 1. FOR THAT END, CHILDREN HAD TO OBSERVE HOW SPHERICAL SURFACES OF
DIFFERENT SIZE (A PING-PONG BALL, A TENNIS BALL, A BIG BALL WITH A DIAMETER
OF 120 CM) LOOK LIKE WHEN OBSERVED FROM DIFFERENT DISTANCES. ALSO THE
POSSIBILITY OF PLACING OBJECTS ON CONVEX SURFACES WAS DISCUSSED AND
DEMONSTRATED.
• 2. PEOPLE LIVING ON THE “DOWN-SIDE” OF THE EARTH. WORK OF A MAGNET AND
MAGNETIC INTERACTION BETWEEN OBJECTS WAS DEMONSTRATED AND AN
ANALOGY WITH THE FORCE OF GRAVITY WAS DRAWN.
• 3. TO SHOW THAT THE UP–DOWN DIRECTION IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE CENTER OF
THE EARTH THE MEANINGS OF RELEVANT WORDS (E.G., “UP” AND “DOWN”) WERE
DISCUSSED.
 DURING LESSONS

• CHILDREN WERE FIRST ENCOURAGED TO EXPRESS THEIR OWN IDEAS ABOUT THE
TOPICS. (VERBAL EXPLANATIONS USING MODELS AND PICTURES). AFTER THE
DEMONSTRATIONS CHILDREN WERE INSTRUCTED TO EXPLORE THE MODELS.

• 1ª “IS THERE AN END OR EDGE TO THE EARTH?” GAVE TOO MUCH OF A HINT. WE
WANTED TO EXAMINE WHETHER CHILDREN THEMSELVES TALK ABOUT THE EARTH AS
FINITE AND THEREFORE CHANGED THE ORIGINAL QUESTIONS SO THAT THE EDGE OF THE
EARTH WAS NOT EXPLICITLY MENTIONED BY THE INTERVIEWER.
• 2º CHILDREN WERE GIVEN A LETTER-SIZE SHEET OF PAPER AND PENCILS. THEY HAD TO
DRAW A PICTURE ON THIS PAPER ACCORDING TO THE INSTRUCTIONS. THE
INSTRUCTION OF THE ORIGINAL TASK “DRAW THE EARTH” WAS CHANGED TO “DRAW
THE EARTH WHERE ALL PEOPLE LIVE” TO REDUCE THE AMBIGUITY IN ESTONIAN.
• EACH ANSWER WAS CATEGORIZED INDEPENDENTLY FROM OTHER ANSWERS,
DEPENDING ON ITS LEVEL OF ABSTRACTION.

• 0: WHEN A CHILD DID NOT RESPOND TO A QUESTION AT ALL;

• 1ª: ONLY DESCRIBE THE VISIBLE WORLD OR PERSONAL EXPERIENCE;

• 2ª: INTEGRATE SCIENTIFIC (VERBAL, ABSTRACT) AND VISIBLE (CONCRETE,

EXPERIENTIAL) INFORMATION, AND REFER TO THE POSSIBILITY OF NON-SCIENTIFIC
MODELS;

• 3ª: ANSWERS ARE SCIENTIFICALLY ACCURATE.

CATEGORY OF ANSWERS:

0 1ª 2ª 3ª
No answer Description Synthetic Scientific
“CHILDREN’S KNOWLEDGE OF
ASTRONOMY AND ITS
CHANGE IN THE COURSE OF
LEARNING”
(HANNUST E KIKAS, 2007)