Early Science Education

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Western Governors University *

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EVALUATION

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Arts Humanities

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Jan 9, 2024

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docx

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EARLY SCIENCE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 1 Early Science Professional Development Luis Briseno Western Governors University WGU Student ID # 011288495

EARLY SCIENCE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 2 Early Science Education Gains Thesis statement: Early science education develops children’s emergent scientific reasoning; however, educators struggle to leverage science education because (1) their classrooms lack the science materials and (2) they need professional development specific to science to learn how to facilitate science discussions. What do educators need to know to foster scientific reasoning? What struggles do educators encounter preventing them from teaching science in their classrooms? Researchers are investigating these questions to enhance professional development and training. First, this paper will discuss the quality of early childhood education classrooms in terms of classroom materials. Second, the paper highlights what educators need to enhance their facilitation of scientific reasoning. First, Greenfield and colleagues (2009) indicate that “children end their pre-kindergarten year with science readiness scores significantly lower than readiness scores in all other. measured domains.” Research indicates that science materials are missing from classrooms. Tu (2006) investigation maps preschool educators' engagement to be unrelated to science activities. In contrast, Fleer and Gomes (2014) map science learning affordances in preschool classrooms by analyzing photographs (indoors and outdoors), video recordings, and think-aloud of an educator’s science walk. They indicate that classrooms have large amounts of materials already present. In other words, research finds that classroom materials quality (materials) varies. In other words, science materials being present in the classroom is the first step for educators to facilitate science education.

EARLY SCIENCE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 3 Next, Nayfeld and colleagues (2011) discuss that it is unlikely that children will benefit from the presence of science materials through self-exploration alone because they do not go to the science area on their own. Tu and Hsiao (2008) support this finding by investigating educator- child verbal interactions; they find educators interact “most often in the art area (24.8%), the sensory play (19.3%), and science (0.3%).” Similarly, Greenfield and colleagues (2009) indicate that educators need science-specific training to facilitate science education effectively. In summary, these researchers emphasize that children alone do not choose to play in the science area. They highlight possible reasons for the lack of materials and that educators and children need to learn how to engage with the science materials. Researchers suggest that professional development specific to science content is essential to enhance science education (Greenfeld et al., 2009; Nayfeld et al., 2011; Tu & Hsiao, 2008). Nayfeld and colleagues (2011) demonstrate this to be true by doing a two-day training where they model to educators how to introduce a science object and engage. Then educators can lead the session themselves and extend the lesson plan. Researchers showed that when educators are familiar and comfortable with science concepts, educators are more likely to bring materials to the classroom. Having a classroom rich in science materials resulted in students choosing to engage with science materials on their own. Similarly, Greenfield and colleagues (2009) showed an increase in science education after they provided training specific to science content and instruction. Educators are likelier to use praise, acknowledgment statements, and closed questions without professional development. Furthermore, Edwards & Loveridge (2011) indicate that educators’ belief system influences their teaching pedagogy. They indicate that “science learning is constructed from several sources, including personal perspectives, social and cultural aspects of education, and

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EARLY SCIENCE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 4 daily interactions between individuals, social groups, and context.” Moreover, they assert that professional development and training should consider the interests of students, parents, and the wider community as they are most likely to engage in science education. Another implication of this study is that professional development should be targeted at educators’ challenges. They highlight educators’ barriers to bringing science education into the classroom are scheduling and a lack of science education and instruction. Maier, Greenfield, Bulotsky-Shearer (2013), and Pendergast and colleagues (2017) indicate that professional development must address educators’ attitudes toward prekindergarten learning science. If an educator believes science education opportunities are essential for students and that they can engage in science activities, they are most likely to bring science into their classrooms. However, even if educators indicate positive attitudes and beliefs about their student’s science capabilities, they indicate a need for more professional development and training for science content and instruction. To summarize the main points, the underlying foundation is that science materials and educators connecting learning to science materials are essential for quality teaching and learning. One without the other cannot lead to education. Further, this body of literature indicates that professional development and training must be situated on educators’ particular needs. Whether that be time management (schedules), learning how to science to children’s real-world experiences (contextual environment), or learning how to introduce science, educators need to be the driver for their professional development to bring about science education.

EARLY SCIENCE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 5 References: Tu, T. (2006). Preschool Science Environment: What Is Available in a Preschool Classroom? Early Childhood Education Journal, 33 (4), 245–251. Tu, T., & Hsiao, W. (2008). Preschool Teacher-Child Verbal Interactions in Science Teaching. Electronic Journal of Science Education, 12(2), 1-23. Greenfield, D., Jirout, J., Dominguez, X., Greenberg, A., Maier, M., & Fuccillo, J. (2009). Science in the Preschool Classroom: A Programmatic Research Agenda to Improve Science Readiness. Early Education & Development, 20(2), 238-264. Nayfeld, I., Brenneman, K., & Gelman, R. (2011). Science in the Classroom: Finding a Balance between Autonomous Exploration and Teacher-Led Instruction in Preschool Settings. Early Education and Development, 22(6), 970-988. Edwards, K., & Loveridge, J. (2011). The inside story: Looking into early childhood teachers' support of children's scientific learning. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 36(2), 28-35. Fleer, M., Gomes, J., & March, S. (2014). Science learning affordances in preschool environments. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 39(1), 38-48. Maier, M. F., Greenfield, D. B., & Bulotsky-Shearer, R. J. (2013). Development and Validation of a Preschool Teachers' Attitudes and Beliefs Toward Science Teaching Questionnaire. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 28(2), 366-378. Pendergast, E., Lieberman-Betz, R.G. & Vail, C.O. (2017). Attitudes and Beliefs of Prekindergarten Teachers Toward Teaching Science to Young Children. Early Childhood Education Journal 45, 43–52.

Early Science Education

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