Rupert Knight considers
ways of finding out about
children’s existing scientific
ideas
T
he unit of work for that half
term involved ‘changing
materials’. A coherent
sequence of work had been planned
and the teacher was feeling rather
pleased with himself as he launched
into the first lesson with year 5 (9–
10 year-olds). As he outlined the
topic, it quickly became apparent,
however, that the ‘difficult’
concepts of evaporation and
condensation (carefully reserved for
weeks four and five) were already
familiar to the majority of the
children as a result of last year’s
work on the water cycle in
geography. On the other hand, the
use of the very word ‘material’
seemed to be fraught with difficulty
as some children, based on their
knowledge of everyday language,
still clearly considered it
synonymous with ‘fabric’. A swift
rethink was required and it was a
Questioning
lesson learned for the teacher, if not Perhaps the most obvious way of
the children.
finding out children’s views is
through questioning, but this is
As the above anecdote illustrates,
often used in a very limited way.
it is all too easy for planning to
‘Opening up’ questioning might
lack one essential ingredient: the
take forethought, but will pay
learner. Each class is unique and
each unique class is a collection of dividends. At one level, this
might simply be about wording
individuals. For this reason,
medium-terms plans can only ever the question to encourage an
open response:
be provisional and the elicitation
of prior knowledge is a vital first
How many facts do you think
you already know about healthy
step for any block of work.
In soliciting this feedback from eating?
What would happen if there
children we discover not only the
were no green plants?
extent of their knowledge, but
What does the word ‘force’
the nature of it; frequently within
mean to you?
science this will include
How would you describe a
misconceptions. Furthermore,
from a constructivist perspective magnet to someone who had
never seen one?
(Selley, 1999), it is only through
this initial elicitation process that The added advantage of
including one or two strategic
we can provide
questions such as these is that it
experiences to help
should cause us to stop and
children to modify
consider the huge variety of
these ideas. With a
responses that might ensue and
little creative
whether our subject knowledge
thought, there are
will be up to the challenge.
more ways than
Asking questions, however, is
you might imagine not the sole preserve of the
teacher. Children can interview
of achieving this.
It is all too easy for
planning to lack one
essential ingredient: the
learner
22
PRIMARY SCIENCE 109
Sept/Oct 2009
S TA RT I N G O U T
The elicitation of prior
knowledge is a vital first
step for any block of
work
featuring various
parts of the body.
Depending on the
focus, some of the
following tasks
might be
illuminating:
Which one of
these is the odd
one out and why?
Can you put the cards in order
of importance for a human’s
survival? (This could be in
linear fashion or as a pyramid
or diamond, depending on the
number of cards.)
Which of these cards do you
know most/least about?
Are there any other words/
pictures that would go with this
set?
Clearly, there are often no ‘right’
answers here, but a wealth of
information can be gleaned. In
most cases, responses will simply
be observed and noted, but they
can easily be recorded, if desired,
either by sticking down the cards
or by taking a photograph.
There is another function here
Visual elicitation
for the digital camera, however.
While questioning, at its best,
Some topics may lend themselves
provides a valuable snapshot of
to a more active representation of
the range of a class’s
knowledge. Try arming a small
understanding, there remains the group of children with a camera
problem of hearing each
and asking them to document
individual voice. For this reason, what they currently understand
demonstrating prior knowledge
by ‘pushes and pulls’ or perhaps
in a more visual way is also
materials in the classroom with
useful. Children can produce a
certain properties. A selection of
poster, spider diagram, flow
their photographs can then be
displayed on the wall and
chart, or similar. The level of
referred back to as the starting
detail required and the use of
point for a learning sequence.
either pictures or words will
depend on the age group. One of Annotations and speech bubbles
can be added to reflect new
the advantages of this approach
knowledge gained. This
is that the product can be
revisiting of early ideas also
revisited periodically. Adding
new features in a different colour helps to make explicit the
learning process and encourages
every few weeks results in an
ongoing self-assessment exercise the reflective, metacognitive
qualities emphasised by Claxton
and a record of progress at the
(2002) and others.
end of a topic. In order to
provide extra structure or simply Confronting
to focus reflection in a particular misconceptions
direction, key words or pictures
A form of elicitation that could
can also be provided and
be employed in conjunction with
children asked to draw lines
the methods already mentioned
suggesting links and other
is the use of misconceptions. One
relationships.
well-known version of this is the
A further refinement is a
concept cartoon (Keogh and
variation on the card-sorting
Naylor, 2000) featuring a number
activity often used in research.
of characters offering views,
Take, for example, a set of cards
some of which reflect common
one another, using these prompts,
about their current knowledge: a
fabulous opportunity for
observation and eavesdropping.
Going beyond this, children can
be encouraged to suggest their
own questions at this stage. As
well as revealing their
knowledge, this can be a
motivating starting point for
further enquiry and a chance to
tap into their interests. A
classroom with space on its
crowded wall for an ‘anything
goes’ questions board, covered
with sticky labels, gives a
powerful message and suggests a
community in which children’s
ideas are genuinely valued.
misconceptions, on a scientific
idea. Visual stimuli such as this
can provide engaging starting
points for discussion and help to
get areas of potential
misunderstanding out into the
open. So long as care is taken not
to reinforce the less appropriate
ideas, tackling these issues head
on can be very valuable. As the
opening anecdote suggested, it
can be difficult to predict which
misconceptions the class will
hold!
The same effect can be
achieved quite powerfully by the
teacher playing ‘devil’s
advocate’. Older classes may
respond well to a provocative
statement such as: ‘Friction is a
real nuisance: we would be much
better off without it’. Younger
children often enjoy correcting
an ‘incompetent’ adult. I recently
worked with key stage 1 children
(5–7 year-olds) who took great
delight in pointing out that my
friend’s advice on building
materials (items provided
included jelly for foundations
and dark fabric for windows)
Questioning, at its best,
provides a valuable
snapshot of the range of
a class’s understanding
was a little unhelpful. By the end
of the discussion, partly through
supplementary questioning, a
great deal was known about their
understanding of the properties
of materials and the beginnings
of a scientific vocabulary had
been established.
Play
The temptation in all of this is
often to withhold access to
practical ‘scientific’ activity until
this initial groundwork has been
completed. A final approach to
consider, however, turns this
view on its head. As explained by
Karen Phethean (2008) in Primary
Science 105, allowing children to
play freely with apparatus and
observing the outcomes can be
very powerful. A topic on
magnetism beginning with an
PRIMARY SCIENCE 109
Sept/Oct 2009
23
S TA RT I N G O U T
It can be difficult to
predict which
misconceptions the class
will hold!
instruction to explore a set of
magnets for ten minutes can
yield vital information.
Witnessing children discovering,
to their surprise, that some of
these metal objects seem to stick
together as if by magic,
necessitates a very different
starting point to that for a group
heard confidently discussing
attraction between two poles.
Varying degrees of structure
can be imposed: children might,
for example, be provided with a
set of materials and some hoops
and instructed to sort the objects
in as many different ways as
possible. Often, however, having
the confidence to allow greater
freedom is rewarded. Not long
ago, I was visiting a classroom in
which a group of young children
in a darkened corner were
provided with a torch each and
licence to explore freely. Within a
few minutes, the predictable early
uproar had given way to another
form of play: a realisation
dawned that the size of the
shadows formed on the wall
could be altered and that this had
something to do with distance.
For the adult discreetly observing
nearby, there was not only a sense
of the children’s current
knowledge and vocabulary, but
an ideal starting point, arising
from their own experiences.
By now it will be apparent, no
doubt, that almost all the
strategies above have application
well beyond initial evaluations of
children’s knowledge. They could
equally be used as forms of
ongoing dialogue for assessment
for learning, as conceived by
Black and Wiliam (1998). The
wonderful thing about children’s
ideas is that they never stand still.
Every day is a new starting point!
References
Black, P. and Wiliam, D. (1998)Inside
the black box: raising standards
through classroom assessment.
London: nfer Nelson (also in Phi
Delta Kappan, 80(2), 139–148).
Claxton, G. (2002) Building learning
power. Bristol: TLO.
Keogh, B. and Naylor, S. (2000)
Concept cartoons in science
education. Sandbach, Cheshire:
Millgate House.
Phethean, K. (2008) When are you too
old to ‘play’ in science? Primary
Science, 105, 12–15.
Selley, N. (1999) The art of
constructivist teaching in the
primary school. London: David Fulton.
Rupert Knight is lecturer in
primary education at the
University of Derby.
Email: R.Knight@ Derby.ac.uk
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