A Study Regarding the Representation of the Sun in Young Children’s Spontaneous Drawings

Villarroel, José Domingo; Villanueva, Xabier

doi:10.3390/socsci6030095

Cited by 10 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…The process of pinpointing symmetries in the children's drawings was based on the examination of the pictorial motifs appearing in their pictures. A pictorial motif, in accordance with previous research linked to the analysis of the content of young children's drawings [22,29,47], is considered to be the graphical representation of a certain entity, both physical (e.g., a tree) or abstract (e.g., a decorative pattern), which displays a distinctive level of independence in the picture. Thus, for instance, a flower appearing in a picture is regarded as a pictorial motif as it represents a particular physical entity, which, plausibly, looks to be singled out from the other parts of the drawing.…”

Section: Regarding the Encoding Criteria On Symmetrical Motifsmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…As far as the examination of children's drawings is concerned, some research pays particular attention to the content displayed in the drawings, that is to say, the pictorial motifs that the child includes in their illustration [12,29]. The undoubted usefulness that this line of research has when it comes to unveiling children's comprehension on a large range of topics notwithstanding, some scholars also highlight the value of looking into more general pictorial features, that is, those characteristics related to the process of creating the depictions.…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Symmetrical Motifs in Young Children’s Drawings: A Study on Their Representations of Plant Life

2018

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Young children love drawing; this is without question. Besides that, drawings are also of interest to scholars and educators, since they seem to provide food for thought regarding children’s conceptual development during their early education. Different approaches are taken when it comes to analysing children’s drawings but insufficient attention has been given to the issue of the spontaneous depictions of symmetrical motifs in young children’s drawings. This pictorial phenomena might not go unnoticed by parents and teachers but the fact is that the scientific community has no reliable data regarding how children under 8 naturally draw symmetrical patterns to express themselves graphically. Accordingly, the present study analyses 116 drawings undertaken by children between 4 and 7 on a well-known natural issue in early childhood such as plant life. Pictorial motifs displaying both cyclic and dihedral symmetries were found in the pictorial sample under examination and the data gathered is put in perspective with the gender and educational level variables. The results of the study show that symmetry, particularly, dihedral symmetry, is a very common pictorial practice in the sample and, also, that the occurrence of symmetrical motifs displays a relationship with the independent variables considered in the study.

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Section: Regarding the Encoding Criteria On Symmetrical Motifsmentioning

confidence: 90%

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Symmetrical Motifs in Young Children’s Drawings: A Study on Their Representations of Plant Life

2018

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“…3 The images that children produced were informed by the totality of what they see and experience in their lives [Kendrick and Mckay, 2004], which includes a range of cultural and entertainment products, such as children story books, cartoons and advertising. Children often perceive the Sun as a living body with anthropomorphic features and habits [Villarroel and Villanueva, 2017;Kallery, 2011].…”

Section: First Moment: Drawings Made Before the Observation Sessionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is one of the oldest sciences, providing connections to other fields of knowledge, such as Mathematics, Philosophy and History, among others, in a holistic manner. Observing the sky is both an ancient practice of humankind [Baity et al, 1973] and an early and natural exercise in childhood [Villarroel and Villanueva, 2017]. These are some of the reasons why astronomy is often deemed an attractive domain for science communication and science education activities aimed at increasing science literacy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Observing and drawing the Sun: research-based insights to assess science communication practices aimed at children

Anjos¹,

Aibéo²,

Carvalho³

2019

JCOM

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Knowing how specific publics understand and experience science is crucial for both researchers and practitioners. As learning and meaning-making develop over time, depending on a combination of factors, creative possibilities to analyze those processes are needed to improve evaluation of science communication practices. We examine how first grade children's drawings expressed their perceptions of the Sun and explore their views of a major astronomical body within their social, cultural and personal worlds. We then examine how the observation of the Sun through a telescope led to changes in graphical representations, and how learning and meaning evolved after several months.

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“…The initial contact with the students took place in their normal classroom and various steps were taken to ensure their comfort and well-being, such as the use of stuffed animals. They have been used in previous studies [20,21] with similar accommodation and preparatory sessions to support the participation of very young children in a research activity. Below is a description of the background to these phases, an explanation of the material used and the procedure followed.…”

Section: Interviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Awareness and Its Relationship with the Concept of the Living Being: A Longitudinal Study

2018

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Abstract:There is currently a growing theoretical discussion about the foundations that underlie the development of environmental awareness and nature care in early childhood. The aim of this study is to analyze how the environmental concerns of young children emerge and evolve during early childhood and whether these concerns are connected to an understanding of the biological notion of the living being. This study is designed to address methodological limitations of previous studies through a longitudinal axis and an extensive age sample. A sample of 178 children between the ages of four and nine participated at two different testing times for a period of one year. The methodology includes the categorization of various images of living beings and inert entities in order to analyze their understanding of living organisms. Dilemmas involving environmental, moral and socio-conventional situations are presented to examine and compare how young children view transgressions against plant life. The results reveal that young children's judgments about environmental behaviors may arise before the development of an understanding of the concept of the living being. It is therefore proposed that this type of understanding does not support environmental awareness. Previous research indicates that complex biological concepts may be successfully introduced at the preschool age, provided that suitable educational interventions are designed for the initial stages of education. In this regard, there is evidence that a basic understanding of the issue of the ecological interactions among organisms may be achieved in the preschool years.

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A Study Regarding the Representation of the Sun in Young Children’s Spontaneous Drawings

Cited by 10 publications

References 27 publications

Symmetrical Motifs in Young Children’s Drawings: A Study on Their Representations of Plant Life

Symmetrical Motifs in Young Children’s Drawings: A Study on Their Representations of Plant Life

Observing and drawing the Sun: research-based insights to assess science communication practices aimed at children

Environmental Awareness and Its Relationship with the Concept of the Living Being: A Longitudinal Study

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