How Young Children Understand Electric Circuits: Prediction, explanation and exploration
How Young Children Understand Electric Circuits: Prediction, explanation and exploration
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幼儿如何理解电路：预测、解释和探索
DOI：
10.1080/09500690802101950
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发表时间：
2009
影响因子：
2.3
通讯作者：
E. Glauert
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
E. Glauert
本文报告了一项关于幼儿对电路的看法的研究结果。28名5岁和6岁的儿童接受了采访。他们被展示了电路的例子，并被要求预测它们是否会起作用并解释为什么。然后，他们被邀请试用一些电路实例，或者自己选择制作电路。孩子们对电路中需要的连接表达了不同的观点，提供了不同的解释，并展示了不同水平的电路制作能力。回答的范围与之前研究中发现的年龄较大的学生的相似之处。实践能力、预测和解释之间的关系并不简单。例如，具有相似实践能力水平的儿童做出不同的预测或提供不同的解释。对儿童选择构建现有能力和知识的建议影响的回路进行分析。特别是，一些孩子测试了他们在采访中不确定的电路例子，而另一些孩子则更普遍地探索了电路连接。研究结果强调了在评估幼儿对电路的理解时利用各种证据的重要性。他们指出，年幼的儿童可能会提出对电路的看法，就像年龄较大的儿童和有类似经历的成年人一样。最后，有一些建议认为，面谈程序可能起到了有益的刺激作用，帮助儿童更多地意识到自己的观点，并根据进一步的证据反思他们的想法。
This paper reports findings from a study of young children’s views about electric circuits. Twenty‐eight children aged 5 and 6 years were interviewed. They were shown examples of circuits and asked to predict whether they would work and explain why. They were then invited to try out some of the circuit examples or make circuits of their own choosing. Children expressed a variety of views about the connections needed in a circuit, offered different kinds of explanation and showed differing levels of competence in circuit making. The range of responses showed similarities to those of older students found in previous research. The relationship between practical competence, prediction, and explanation was not straightforward. For example, children with similar levels of practical competence made different predictions or offered different kinds of explanation. Analysis of the circuits children chose to construct suggested influences of existing competence and knowledge. In particular, some children tested out circuit examples about which they had been unsure during the interview, while others explored circuit connections more generally. Findings underline the importance of drawing on a variety of evidence in assessing young children’s understandings of electric circuits. They indicate that young children may offer views about electric circuits not unlike those of older children and adults with similar experience. Finally, there was some suggestion that the interview procedure may have acted as an instructive stimulus in helping children to become more conscious of their own views and reflect on their thinking in the light of further evidence.