Long-term outcomes of early childhood science education: insight from a cross-national comparative case study on conceptual understanding of science
The purpose of this research was to explore the long term outcomes of either participating or not participating in early childhood science education on Grade 6 students’ conceptual understanding of science. The research is situated in a conceptual framework that evokes Piagetian developmental levels...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
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Springer
2012
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/27848/ |
| _version_ | 1848793454936588288 |
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| author | Tao, Ying Oliver, Mary Venville, Grady |
| author_facet | Tao, Ying Oliver, Mary Venville, Grady |
| author_sort | Tao, Ying |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | The purpose of this research was to explore the long term outcomes of either participating or not participating in early childhood science education on Grade 6 students’ conceptual understanding of science. The research is situated in a conceptual framework that evokes Piagetian developmental levels as both potential curriculum constraints and potential models of efficacy. The research design was a multiple case study of Grade 6 children from three schools in China (n=140) who started formal science education in the third grade, and Grade 6 children from three matched schools in Australia (n=105) who started learning science in kindergarten. The students’ understanding was assessed by a science quiz and in-depth interview. The data showed that participating children from the high socio-economic schools in China and Australia had similar understandings of science. Divergence between the medium and low socio-economic schools, however, indicated that the grounding in early childhood science education in Australia may have placed these children at an advantage. Alternative explanations for the divergence including the nature of classroom instruction in the two countries are discussed. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:00:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-27848 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:00:34Z |
| publishDate | 2012 |
| publisher | Springer |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-278482020-05-04T20:21:05Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/27848/ Long-term outcomes of early childhood science education: insight from a cross-national comparative case study on conceptual understanding of science Tao, Ying Oliver, Mary Venville, Grady The purpose of this research was to explore the long term outcomes of either participating or not participating in early childhood science education on Grade 6 students’ conceptual understanding of science. The research is situated in a conceptual framework that evokes Piagetian developmental levels as both potential curriculum constraints and potential models of efficacy. The research design was a multiple case study of Grade 6 children from three schools in China (n=140) who started formal science education in the third grade, and Grade 6 children from three matched schools in Australia (n=105) who started learning science in kindergarten. The students’ understanding was assessed by a science quiz and in-depth interview. The data showed that participating children from the high socio-economic schools in China and Australia had similar understandings of science. Divergence between the medium and low socio-economic schools, however, indicated that the grounding in early childhood science education in Australia may have placed these children at an advantage. Alternative explanations for the divergence including the nature of classroom instruction in the two countries are discussed. Springer 2012-12 Article PeerReviewed Tao, Ying, Oliver, Mary and Venville, Grady (2012) Long-term outcomes of early childhood science education: insight from a cross-national comparative case study on conceptual understanding of science. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 10 (6). pp. 1269-1302. ISSN 1571-0068 http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10763-012-9335-2 doi:10.1007/s10763-012-9335-2 doi:10.1007/s10763-012-9335-2 |
| spellingShingle | Tao, Ying Oliver, Mary Venville, Grady Long-term outcomes of early childhood science education: insight from a cross-national comparative case study on conceptual understanding of science |
| title | Long-term outcomes of early childhood science education:
insight from a cross-national comparative case study on conceptual understanding of science |
| title_full | Long-term outcomes of early childhood science education:
insight from a cross-national comparative case study on conceptual understanding of science |
| title_fullStr | Long-term outcomes of early childhood science education:
insight from a cross-national comparative case study on conceptual understanding of science |
| title_full_unstemmed | Long-term outcomes of early childhood science education:
insight from a cross-national comparative case study on conceptual understanding of science |
| title_short | Long-term outcomes of early childhood science education:
insight from a cross-national comparative case study on conceptual understanding of science |
| title_sort | long-term outcomes of early childhood science education:
insight from a cross-national comparative case study on conceptual understanding of science |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/27848/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/27848/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/27848/ |