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A desire to inquire : children experience science as adventure Mueller, Andrea Christiane
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to explore and document the nature of children's participation in elementary school science in British Columbia, Canada. Using an ethnographic approach, extensive fieldnotes provide the foundation addressing the question "What is the activity of science in an elementary school?" Although current science curriculum documents continue to cast science at school as a possible mirror of science in the 'real' world, this is a thesis about elementary school science and a community of inquiry that evolves at school. Instead of separating process and content, this thesis emphasizes their co-emergence. Drawing upon sociocultural and enactivist perspectives, the focus is on learning and context, learner and content as they co-evolve. This study was conducted in one elementary class at the intermediate level (Grade 6/7) across one school year. The teacher and I collaborated to plan and teach science with a focus on creating opportunities for children to participate. Children embarked on three extensive science adventures with their teacher, working in teams of four or five and learning as a community of inquiry. Using audio taped records of children's and the teacher's comments, children's creations, as well as my fieldnotes, I construct a narrative of one year of school science. Researcher, children, and teacher describe what it means to participate in a diversity of ways and, if we wish to understand how children learn science it is important to listen. Data analysis reveals the importance of contexts for participation in elementary school science. In particular, I identify "spaces of inquiry" that afforded students diverse opportunities to participate with science content in a community of inquiry. They are generative spaces, rehearsal spaces, and performative spaces. Spaces of inquiry are important because they provide an alternative way to think about learning and teaching science, they provide opportunities for designing collaborative group work, and they challenge educators to consider children's contributions to their science learning. Overall, this ethnographic study illustrates a dynamic interdependence of learners and their environment in this open-ended, creative adventure in and through school science.
Item Metadata
Title |
A desire to inquire : children experience science as adventure
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Creator | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
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Date Issued |
1998
|
Description |
The purpose of this study is to explore and document the nature of children's
participation in elementary school science in British Columbia, Canada.
Using an ethnographic approach, extensive fieldnotes provide the foundation
addressing the question "What is the activity of science in an elementary
school?" Although current science curriculum documents continue to cast
science at school as a possible mirror of science in the 'real' world, this is a
thesis about elementary school science and a community of inquiry that
evolves at school. Instead of separating process and content, this thesis
emphasizes their co-emergence. Drawing upon sociocultural and enactivist
perspectives, the focus is on learning and context, learner and content as they
co-evolve.
This study was conducted in one elementary class at the intermediate level
(Grade 6/7) across one school year. The teacher and I collaborated to plan and
teach science with a focus on creating opportunities for children to participate.
Children embarked on three extensive science adventures with their teacher,
working in teams of four or five and learning as a community of inquiry.
Using audio taped records of children's and the teacher's comments,
children's creations, as well as my fieldnotes, I construct a narrative of one
year of school science. Researcher, children, and teacher describe what it
means to participate in a diversity of ways and, if we wish to understand how
children learn science it is important to listen.
Data analysis reveals the importance of contexts for participation in
elementary school science. In particular, I identify "spaces of inquiry" that
afforded students diverse opportunities to participate with science content in
a community of inquiry. They are generative spaces, rehearsal spaces, and
performative spaces. Spaces of inquiry are important because they provide an
alternative way to think about learning and teaching science, they provide
opportunities for designing collaborative group work, and they challenge
educators to consider children's contributions to their science learning.
Overall, this ethnographic study illustrates a dynamic interdependence of
learners and their environment in this open-ended, creative adventure in
and through school science.
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Extent |
10523846 bytes
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Genre | |
Type | |
File Format |
application/pdf
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Language |
eng
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Date Available |
2009-06-24
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Rights |
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
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DOI |
10.14288/1.0054999
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URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
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Graduation Date |
1998-11
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Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
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Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.