Seeing the Science in Young Children's Activity Through an Interactionally Grounded Account of Inquiry

• In Event: Poster Session 10
  In Poster Session: Learning Sciences SIG Poster Session

Abstract

This work draws on video-recordings of young children engaging in noticing, questioning, and exploring in their families. Here, I examine a four-year-old thinking through a puzzle with his mother by acting out an embodied thought experiment. I develop a representation of inquiry capturing how they formulated a puzzling situation, the sensemaking in which they engaged, and how they concluded. While I use Dewey’s (1938/1981) “felt puzzle” as a starting point, I allow participants’ activity rather than a researcher’s definition to define what constitutes inquiry. This allows me to characterize children’s activity for what it is rather than what it is not, seeing the science in their activity and placing it in relationship not opposition to the practices of scientists.

Author

• Danielle Keifert, Exploratorium