How do young children learn science through narrative, embodiment, and play?
Open Access
- Author:
- Cho, Kyungjin
- Graduate Program:
- Curriculum and Instruction
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- March 22, 2021
- Committee Members:
- Julia Diane Plummer, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Julia Diane Plummer, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Carla Zembal-Saul, Committee Member
Jacqueline J A Reid-Walsh, Committee Member
Heather Toomey Zimmerman, Outside Member
Elisa Shaw Hopkins, Special Member
Kimberly Anne Powell, Program Head/Chair - Keywords:
- young children
early childhood
narrative
storybook
picturebook
embodied cognition
embodiment
play
guided play
story
science education
explanations
conjecture map
science storybooks
science practices
body-based
gestures
play-based
preschool - Abstract:
- Narrative, embodiment, and play are central pedagogical strategies in young children’s science learning. However, there is a limited understanding of how these three pedagogical functions interact to support young children’s construction of explanations. This dissertation is motivated by this gap in our understanding and accordingly fulfills the following set of goals: (a) develop and design two learning environments, Story Driven Embodied Play and Embodied Play, that integrate narrative, embodiment, and play, and embodiment and play, respectively; (b) investigate how the Story Driven Embodied Play learning environment supports young children in constructing evidence-based explanations about science phenomena; and (c) compare the two learning environments to identify the role and effect of narrative on children’s learning. The participants in the study were young children aged 3- to 5-years old (N=44), who participated in either the SDEP (N=22) or EP (N=22) programs. Both programs focused on encouraging children to engage in embodied guided play about shadows with or without narrative from the book. I used Conjecture Mapping analysis to identify the most salient patterns of SDEP and EP learning environments. Analysis of SDEP and EP program suggests that together the use of body movements, engagement in guided play, and making observations and testing predictions strongly supported children in constructing evidence-based explanations during the investigation. However, there were significant differences between the SDEP and EP programs in that during the SDEP program, children constructed fewer evidence-based explanations because the educator provides fewer questions and prompts because the children were more engaged in play and imaginary experience. Another salient finding from the study is that narrative plays an important role in the SDEP program and provides children with the opportunity to ‘reproduce’ narrative with agency. Thematic analysis of the intersection of narrative theory, embodied cognition, and play theory provides a holistic view of young children’s science learning. The combination of these three theories more explains both young children’s conceptual understanding of shadows through science investigation and their social-emotional development in terms of social interactions, agency, and motivation in learning. The results demonstrate the importance of narrative, embodiment, and guided play for supporting children’s co-construction of evidence-based explanations. Further, this dissertation study suggests that narrative plays a critical role in promoting children’s playful moments and active engagements in the learning context. Not only does this research contribute to the gaps in our understandings about the intersections and interanimations of narrative, embodiment, and play in children’s learning, but it also has implications and recommendations for how these three theories might be integrated in SDEP learning environment designs for children’s science learning.