van der Steen, Steffie

English

Wat zie je als je 32 jonge kinderen (3 tot 5 jaar) met een onderzoeker aan praktische wetenschappelijke taken over luchtdruk en zwaartekracht laat werken? De onderzoeker had de opdracht een zo natuurlijk mogelijke leersituatie te creëren: het kind mocht de taak ontdekken terwijl de onderzoeker vragen stelde en doorvragen en ondersteuning was toegestaan. Het begrip van elk kind (in verbale uitingen) werd continue geregistreerd gedurende 5 van deze bezoeken (anderhalf jaar).Als we ons richten op één onderzoeker-kind paar, zien we dat het kind tijdens de eerste taak vooral de schommelingen in het complexiteitsniveau van de vragen volgt. Over het verloop van een aantal taken neemt het kind steeds meer initiatief en past de onderzoeker de complexiteit van de (door)vragen aan. Rond dezelfde tijd stijgt ook het complexiteitsniveau van de uitingen van het kind. Ontwikkelen kinderen met gedragsproblemen uit het speciaal onderwijs hun begrip op andere wijze? Eerder onderzoek liet zien dat zij vaak slechter presteren dan hun leeftijdsgenootjes uit het regulier onderwijs. In dit proefschrift zien we echter nauwelijks verschillen wat betreft de ontwikkeling van begrip tijdens de taken. Dit is interessant, zeker omdat dit proefschrift wèl een verschil vindt wat betreft hun scores op reken- en taaltoetsen uit het leerlingvolgsysteem. In het proefschrift wordt beargumenteerd dat speciaal onderwijs-kinderen meer kunnen dan wij denken, als de juiste omstandigheden voor hen worden gecreëerd. Hoe kunnen we de ontwikkeling van het begrip van zwaartekracht en luchtdruk over anderhalf jaar karakteriseren? We vinden 3 trajecten: een groep kinderen die goed presteert, een variabele groep en een groep met weinig vooruitgang. De trajecten zijn, opmerkelijk genoeg, niet geassocieerd met scores op taal- en rekentoetsen, het type school (regulier of speciaal) of het opleidingsniveau van de ouders. Variabelen die wel geassocieerd zijn met de ontwikkeling over tijd, zijn gerelateerd aan de interactie tussen kind en onderzoeker en de interacties tussen de kinderen en hun opvoeders in de thuissituatie.What do we notice when 32 young children (age 3-5) work, with a researcher, on hands-on scientific tasks about air pressure and gravity? An ordinary teaching situation was simulated in which the child could discover the task while the researcher asked questions. Follow-up questions and encouragement were allowed. The child’s understanding (in verbal expressions) was measured from moment to moment during 5 of these visits (over the course of 1.5 years).Focusing on one child-researcher pair, we see that the child follows the complexity level of the questions during the first task. Over time, the child takes more initiative and the researcher subsequently adapts the level of the (follow-up) questions to the level of the child. Around the same time, the complexity of the child’s understanding increases. Does the understanding of special needs children (with behavioral problems) develop in the same manner? Earlier studies showed that they perform worse on academic tests compared to their peers in regular schools. In this study we found almost no difference with regard to the development of their understanding. This is remarkable, because we did find a difference with regard to their scores on standardized tests of math and language. We argue that special needs children have better academic capabilities than previously assumed, if we measure these under the right circumstances.How can we characterize the development of children’s understanding of gravity and air pressure over the course of 1.5 years? We found 3 trajectories: a group children performing well, a group that is highly variable, and a group that makes less progress. The trajectories are, remarkably, not associated with academic test scores of math and language, the type of school (special vs regular) or parents’ educational level. Variables that are associated with the development over time are related to the interaction between child and researcher during the task and the interactions with their parents at home

Dissertations of the University of Groningen

   University of Groningen“How does it work?” A longitudinal microgenetic study on the development of young children’sunderstanding of scientific conceptsvan der Steen, SteffieIMPORTANT NOTE: You are advised to consult the publisher's version (publisher's PDF) if you wish to cite fromit. Please check the document version below.Document VersionPublisher's PDF, also known as Version of recordPublication date:2014Link to publication in University of Groningen/UMCG research databaseCitation for published version (APA):van der Steen, S. (2014). “How does it work?” A longitudinal microgenetic study on the development ofyoung children’s understanding of scientific concepts. s.n.CopyrightOther than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of theauthor(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons).The publication may also be distributed here under the terms of Article 25fa of the Dutch Copyright Act, indicated by the “Taverne” license.More information can be found on the University of Groningen website: https://www.rug.nl/library/open-access/self-archiving-pure/taverne-amendment.Take-down policyIf you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediatelyand investigate your claim.Downloaded from the University of Groningen/UMCG research database (Pure): http://www.rug.nl/research/portal. For technical reasons thenumber of authors shown on this cover page is limited to 10 maximum.Download date: 05-06-2022  PROPOSITIONS (Stellingen behorend bij het proefschrift)   “How does it Work?” A longitudinal microgenetic study on the development of young children’s understanding of scientifi c concepts  1.  Understanding is a complex process of what a person constructs in interaction with - not just within- a specifi c material and social environment (dit proefschrift). 2.  Talent entails a process that is emergenic, epigenetic and dynamic, making it hard to predict when it becomes observable (dit proefschrift). 3.  In a context of scaffolding, teachers and researchers can optimally estimate the bandwidth of what a student knows about a particular subject (dit proefschrift). 4.  There is no single ideal form of scaffolding. There only exists an ideal form of scaffolding at a specifi c moment in time, for a specifi c teacher-student pair (dit proefschrift). 5.  The common fi nding that special needs students score lower on standardized tests does not accurately refl ect their potential (dit proefschrift).  6.  The most important variables to characterize the long-term development of understanding are the product of interactions between the child and his or her proximal environment (dit proefschrift).  7.  Test scores are not the objective context-independent measures of students’ understanding they are claimed to be (dit proefschrift).  8.  If schooling starts to resemble test training, it becomes questionable whether the students - and society in general - will benefi t from this (dit proefschrift). 9.  Studies aimed to generalize from large samples to the population are overvalued in the social sciences as being the only source of scientifi c development (Flyvbjerg, 2006). 10.  De beste stelling is fi guurlijk en wordt om een kind geplaatst.   Steffi e van der Steen  Groningen, 8 mei 2014

“How does it work?” A longitudinal microgenetic study on the development of young children’s understanding of scientific concepts

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“How does it work?” A longitudinal microgenetic study on the development of young children’s understanding of scientific concepts

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