OTROKOVO RAZUMEVANJE ASTRONOMIJE S POUDARKOM NA RAZUMEVANJU GRAVITACIJE - Tekmec, Romana ([R. Tekmec], 2016)
Diplomsko delo sega na področje astronomije in obravnave astronomskih vsebin v vrtcu. Pojavi na nebu zaradi svoje mističnosti in nepopolne raziskanosti burijo domišljijo tako odraslim kot otrokom. Vzgojitelji v vrtcu imamo ključno vlogo pri pravilni interpretaciji znanstvenih razlag astronomskih pojavov v zgodnji fazi otrokovega razvoja. Na vprašanja otrok in ugibanja ponudimo primerne, vendar znanstveno podkrepljene, odgovore. V tem delu pokažemo, da lahko do teh odgovorov otroci pridejo tudi sami, z aktivno udeležbo pri takšnih dejavnostih, ki razširjajo konstrukt znanja s tega področja. Diplomsko delo je sestavljeno iz dveh delov. V prvem, teoretičnem delu, se osredotočimo na to, kaj je mišljenje, kako otrok gradi konstrukt znanja, kaj vpliva na učenje in kako novo znanje poveže z že osvojenim. Poudarek je na zgodnjem učenju naravoslovja pri predšolskem otroku, razvoj pojmov iz naravoslovja in nekatere strategije učenja naravoslovja. Ker je polje astronomije zelo široko, smo se osredotočili na en del, to je gravitacijo. Konkretizirali smo razčlenitev konceptov mišljenja o pojmu Zemlja in njenega gravitacijskega polja. Ker praktični del naše raziskave temelji na neposrednem delu z otroki, podrobneje predstavimo otroško igro kot osnovo za spoznavanje bližnjega in širšega okolja. V praktičnem delu predstavimo dejavnosti in igre, ki smo jih z otroki izvedli z namenom, da jim približamo pojem gravitacije. V obdobju dveh tednov smo izvedli štiri naravoslovne dejavnosti. Pri ugotavljanju začetnega znanja otrok smo ugotovili, da večina anketiranih otrok tvori neznanstvene konstrukte znanja s področja razumevanja gravitacije. Prav tako smo ugotovili, da je otrokovo znanje o gravitaciji razpršeno in da so nekateri delčki znanja otrokom razloženi napačno, kar zavira proces učenja. Skozi evalvacije dejavnosti pa smo sproti spremljali napredek v otrokovem znanju. V sklepnem delu strnemo naše ugotovitve in jih primerjamo z raziskavami, ki so jih na tem področju izvedli vrtci v tujini. Na tej podlagi dajemo vizijo nadaljnjega dela. Mnogo je namreč tem, odprtih vprašanj in dilem. Mnogo je tudi otroških ugibanj. Kako daleč si upamo raziskovati z otroki? The diploma paper ranges to the field of astronomy and discussion of astronomic topics in kindergarten. The phenomena in the sky are mystic and still not enough explored, therefore they increase the imagination of adults as well as imagination of children. The kindergarten teachers and educators have the key role for the correct interpretation of the scientific explanations of astronomic phenomena to children. To their questions and speculations we give appropriate but scientifically correct answers. Children can also find the answers for themselves, but they have to be actively involved and participate in activities, that broaden their knowledge in this field. The diploma paper consists of two parts. In the first, theoretical part, we focused on the theory of thinking, how a child builds his or her knowledge, what affects his or her learning process and how well he or she connects or links together the old or previous and the new knowledge. The point is on early learning of science with a pre-school child, how he or she understands some scientific terms or concepts and some strategies for learning science. Since the astronomy field is very wide and covers different directions of a research, we focused on the gravity. We analysed the concepts of thinking about the concept of Earth and its gravity field and made it concrete. However, the practical part of our research continues through the direct work with children, so we described the children’s play as a basis for learning about their surroundings. In the practical part we present the activities and games that could draw near the concept of gravity for the children. Within two weeks, we carried out four science activities on learning about astronomy. In the activity for determination of the initial knowledge of the child, we figured out that most of the surveyed children form non-scientific constructs of knowledge in understanding of the gravity. Also, we figured out that a child’s knowledge of the gravity is fragmented and that some pieces of that knowledge are wrongly explained to them, which obstructs the learning process. Through evaluation of the activities, we were able to monitor the progress in the child's knowledge. In conclusion, we summarize our findings and compare them with researches that were made in foreign kindergartens. At the same time an idea about continuing such research in the field of astronomy occurs to us. There are many topics, unresolved issues and dilemmas. There are also many children's guesses and speculations. How far do we dare to include children as researchers?