The Effects of Concrete Representations and Switching From Concrete to Abstract in Elementary School Science

• In Event: Understanding How Young Children Reason About Science

Abstract

The present study investigated the effects of concrete representations and switching from concrete to abstract representations during learning on elementary school students' learning outcomes, process, transfer, and interest in science. According to the results, learning with and from constantly concrete representations took consistently less time and resulted in equal or better learning compared to the switching. Given that one of the central arguments for switching is transfer, the most surprising finding of the study can be considered that the concrete condition succeeded as well on transfer tasks as the switch condition. Both learning environments were considered as highly engaging by students. Taken together, benefits of switching seem less obvious in elementary school than in college contexts.

Authors

• Tomi Jaakkola, University of Turku

• Koen Veermans