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Thinking about digestive system in early childhood A comparative study about biological knowledge    
Yazarlar
Prof. Dr. Berat AHİ Prof. Dr. Berat AHİ
Kastamonu Üniversitesi, Türkiye
Özet
The current study aims to explore how children explain the concepts of biology and how biological knowledge develops across ages by focusing on the structure and functions of the digestive system. The study was conducted with 60 children. The data were collected through the interviews conducted within a think-aloud protocol. The interview data revealed that 5-year-olds think that the digestive system before the stomach and the stomach is a large empty space. Results similar to those found for 5-year-olds were also found for 7-year-olds. The children in the 10-year age group were able to offer comprehensive explanations on the digestive system and 10 children from this age group stated that while some of the food eaten is discharged from the body, some of it is retained in the body. While children from all the age groups develop thoughts on the basis of vitalistic thinking, intuitive and animistic thinking patterns were observed in some of the 5-year-olds. Within the scope of the obtained results, it is thought that carrying out the biology education given at the elementary education level through the supporting methods and materials of the vitalistic thinking will contribute to the understanding of the biology and raising the interest of the children on the topic. In addition, teachers’ usage of physical materials in teaching processes could be useful in order to abolish the limitation of animistic thinking on the acquisition of biological knowledge in early childhood.
Anahtar Kelimeler
biological knowledge | digestive system | drawing | early childhood | think-aloud protocol
Makale Türü Özgün Makale
Makale Alt Türü ESCI dergilerinde yayımlanan tam makale
Dergi Adı Cogent Education
Dergi ISSN 2331-186X
Dergi Tarandığı Indeksler ESCI: Emerging Sources Citation Index
Makale Dili İngilizce
Basım Tarihi 01-2017
Cilt No 4
Sayı 1
Doi Numarası 10.1080/2331186X.2017.1278650
Makale Linki https://www.cogentoa.com/article/10.1080/2331186X.2017.1278650.pdf