Suchergebnisse

Concept mapping is a technique used to provide a visual representation of an individual's ideas about a concept or set of related concepts. This paper describes a concept mapping tool using a photograph association technique (CoMPAT) that is considered to be a novel way of eliciting children's ideas. What children at 11 years of age know about particular concepts related to microbial activity is presented and discussed in relation to the effectiveness of CoMPAT as a tool to draw out their ideas. It is proposed that this tool could be used to explore ideas about this and other science concepts from children in other age groups, and where language may be a barrier to participation.

This article examines the use of focus groups (FGs) as a way of gathering pupils' views on the implementation of new curricula. We provide illustrations of creative activities, which were especially designed for a case‐study research project exploring the views of 11‐year‐old pupils in English schools adopting an innovative approach to the Year 7 curriculum. We argue that combining FGs with creative methods encourages pupils to take an active role in interviews, enriches the quality of the data being collected and enhances the place of FGs as important tools in eliciting pupils' voices for both research and curriculum planning purposes.

There are only a few studies about how primary school students engage in socio-scientific discussions. This study aims to add to this field of research by focusing on how 9–10-year-olds in Sweden and England handle climate change as a complex environmental socio-scientific issue (SSI), within the context of their own lives and in relation to society at large. It focuses on how different interpretative repertoires were used by the students in discussions to legitimise or question their everyday lifestyles. They discussed four possible options that a government might consider to help reduce carbon dioxide production. Six main repertoires were identified: Everyday life, Self-Interest, Environment, Science and Technology, Society and Justice. The Everyday life repertoire was used when students related their discussion to their everyday lifestyles. Science and technology-related solutions were offered to maintain or improve things, but these were sometimes rather unrealistic. Arguments related to environment and health frequently appeared to have a superior status compared to the others. Findings also highlighted how conflicts between the students were actually productive by bringing in several perspectives to negotiate the solutions. These primary school students were, therefore, able to discuss and negotiate a complex real-world SSI. Students positioned themselves as active contributors to society, using their life experiences and limited knowledge to understand the problems that affected their everyday lives. Honing these skills within a school science community of practice could facilitate primary students' engagement with SSIs and empower them as citizens.

This study identifies and categorizes the discursive repertoires used by 9-10 year old children in Sweden and England during discussions about the socio-scientific issue of global warming. School science is a community of practice where student identities and discourses can be expressed and developed, and the research focuses on how the use of repertoires is related to the identities the students express in their discussions. It explores what repertoires become important in the discussions, which identities the students express, and what differences there are between children's discussions in Sweden and England. The children discussed four possible options that a government might consider to help reduce global warming. Findings indicate that children in both countries use a range of similar repertoires when discussing global warming. When these repertoires are in conflict with each other, students have to 'renegotiate' their own identities. Socio-economic status appears to have an effect on the intensity and depth of argument in the Swedish schools, whereas in the English schools the level and quality of argument seemed to be more closely connected to children's familiarity with a discursive classroom environment. Young children seem capable of applying a variety of arguments that are logical to them according to the repertoire(s) they employ, but we must encourage changes to pedagogical practice that enable all children to engage in such socio-scientific discussions.