ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
*****************************************************************************

Hi Ben,

Two sources could help.

One is a book called The Scientist in the Crib, by Alison Gopnik.
It's a book about the recent cognitive science advances related to  
very young children and science learning and understanding.
It's written for lay people so it's accessible, but also not succinct  
research. Here's what she says about it:
"In writing this book we've faced the usual problems of scientists  
trying to explain their research. Science is elegant and orderly. But  
it is also messy, noisy, complicated and invariably embroiled in  
controversies and debates. We've tried to present what we think are  
the most interesting experiments, conclusions, ideas and  
speculations; but we couldn't possibly reflect the entire field in  
all its diversity and complexity. We've tried to indicate when we are  
talking about our own views and when we're talking about ideas that  
are generally accepted in the field, and to indicate the many  
questions that remain unanswered."

The second is an article by Kathleen Metz about how cognitive science  
research requires a re-evaluation of the constraints educators  have
believed about children's ability to learn science, based on their  
(mis)interpretations of Piaget's ideas, The upshot is that, while  
young children do
have more difficulty with certain science process skills than older  
children, they improve with practice (!), so it's quite  
counterproductive to postpone giving
young children science experiences. Here's the title and abstract -  
it's very thick and academic.

Metz, K. (1995). Reassessment of development constraints on  
children's science instruction. Review of Educational Research, 65 
(2), 93 - 127.

Science curricula at the elementary school level frequently emphasize  
the "concrete," with a focus on the processes of observation,  
ordering, and categorization of the directly perceivable. Within this  
approach, abstract ideas and the planning of investigations and  
analysis of their results are in large part postponed until higher  
grades. This practice stems from purported developmental constraints  
on children's thinking. This article analyzes these constraints in  
light of the writings of Piaget, to whorm they are frequently  
attributed, and contemporary developmental theory and research.  
Neither the Piagetian nor the non-Piagetian research supports the  
validity of these developmental assumptions. The article also  
identifies several intrinsic problematic aspects of this approach to  
children's science, including the failure to appreciate the challenge  
of adequate scientific description, the liabilities of  
decontextualization, and the epistemological messages it conveys to  
children. Both Piagetian and non-Piagetian literatures support the  
feasibility of children's science curricula in which the processes  
previously approached as ends become tools in contextualized and  
authentic scientific inquiry.


Enjoy,

Fred

Fred Stein
Science Educator
Exploratorium Institute for Inquiry
3601 Lyon St.
San Francisco, CA 94123
(415) 561-0332
fax (415) 561-0307
[log in to unmask]

> Benjamin Dickow wrote:
>> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology  
>> Centers
>> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related  
>> institutions.
>> ********************************************************************* 
>> ********
>>
>> hi,
>>
>> I have to make a case to a bunch of science profs about how kids  
>> younger
>> than 8 years old can do meaningful science. This group has been  
>> resistant to
>> that notion, to say the least. I have a ton of bits of research to  
>> back me
>> up. However, do any of you know of one clear, concise article or  
>> two that
>> also makes that case and that I can share easily with the group?
>>
>> Thank you, and if I'm forgetting that this question was already  
>> handled on
>> this listserv, please remind me of where to look.
>>
>> Ben
>>
>> Ben Dickow
>> 310-614-6048
>> [log in to unmask]
>> edprogramdevelopmentprocess.blogspot.com






***********************************************************************
For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers and the Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org.

Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at www.exhibitfiles.org.

The ISEN-ASTC-L email list is powered by LISTSERVR software from L-Soft. To learn more, visit
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html.

To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the
message  SIGNOFF ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to
[log in to unmask]