Examining models constructed by kindergarten children

Abstract

Despite its proven added value, modeling-based learning (MbL) in science is not commonly incorporated into the early grades. Our purpose in this descriptive case study was to enrich our understanding of how kindergarten children enact MbL by examining these children's constructed models and their accompanying oral descriptions of their models. For this purpose, we adopted a drawing-based modeling approach in which children used annotated drawings to represent their models. The participants consisted of four groups of 5- to 6-year-olds (68 children total) who studied the solution of substances in water. We analyzed child-developed models (artifact analysis) and their oral presentations (discourse analysis), seeking to provide rich, detailed descriptions of the characteristics of these models. Our findings suggest that children in the study developed five different types of models using three different depiction strategies. Our findings also suggest that when developing and presenting their models of a physical phenomenon, our kindergarten children tended to rely on analogical reasoning to identify similar, known situations corresponding to the phenomenon under study. They then invoked mechanistic reasoning to develop representations of the phenomenon under study based on the analogy they used. The spectrum of mechanistic reasoning used by the children, and the analysis of the structure and components of their constructed models serve as evidence suggesting that despite their limited experiences with formal science education, as well as with MbL in science, participating children could successfully engage in authentic MbL activities. We contend that this is aligned with the idea of modeling resources, suggesting that it is more productive to help children to develop more reliable access to modeling resources they already have, even though they are usually not aware of their connection to MbL, such as prior scientific knowledge, experience, and MbL skills.