Investigating Kindergarten Students' Particle Model Development Through Classroom Modeling Activities

• In Event: New Directions in Portraying Science Content for Learning

Abstract

This mixed-methods longitudinal study examined changes in kindergarten students’ models of matter through participation in a technology-mediated, inquiry-based modeling curriculum, designed to teach simple particle models of the properties and behavior of states of matter (SOM) and phase changes (PC). Thirty-nine kindergarten students from a Midwestern public school investigated the properties of matter in solid, liquid, and gas states and during phase changes and constructed model inscriptions in their science notebooks to represent these properties. Science notebook data were analyzed using qualitative and quantitative cognitive science content analytic methods. Our results showed that kindergartners moved from initial macroscopic descriptions to particle-based representations of matter as they progressed through the curriculum.

Authors

• Bima Kumari Sapkota, Purdue University

• Ala Samarapungavan, Purdue University

• Lynn A. Bryan, Purdue University

• Damji Heo Stratton, Bertrand Farm, INC

• Alaina Glidden, Purdue University

• Hector Emilio Will Pinto, Purdue University

• Krista F Hook, Purdue University