PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ CONCEPTIONS ABOUT OWLS, EXPERIENCES WITH OWLS AND THEIR SOURCES OF INFORMATION

TitlePRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ CONCEPTIONS ABOUT OWLS, EXPERIENCES WITH OWLS AND THEIR SOURCES OF INFORMATION
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2019
AuthorsGnidovec, T, Torkar, G
JournalJournal of Baltic Science Education
Volume18
Issue2
Start Page254-263
PaginationContinuous
Date PublishedApril/2019
Type of ArticleOriginal article
ISSN1648-3898
Other NumbersE-ISSN 2538-7138
Keywordsconceptions about owls, experiences with owls, primary school student, student’s drawing, student’s written response
Abstract

The present research explores benefits of using young students’ drawings in combination with written responses for gathering information about science concepts. Younger students are still very limited in their verbal expression and less biologically literate than older students. The aim was to determine primary school students’ conceptions about owls, experiences with owls and their sources of information, and to then determine how beneficial it is to combine information gathered from drawings and written responses in comparison to previous research done with lower secondary school students. Altogether, 280 students attending fourth and fifth grades from schools in Slovenia participated in the research. Students knew well the specific features of owls. Drawings provided more clear information about body parts and proportions, while owls’ specific habitats, behaviours and diet were more thoroughly described in their written responses. Students without experiences with living owls represented owls less thoroughly. Comparison of frequencies of responses in main categories of conceptions about owls showed that using drawings and written responses is equally beneficial for younger and older students. Gathering primary school students’ conceptions about science concepts with both drawings and written responses enables better assessment of a student’s knowledge than using just drawings or written responses.

URLhttp://oaji.net/articles/2019/987-1554359746.pdf
DOI10.33225/jbse/19.18.254
Refereed DesignationRefereed
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