The Role of Drawing in Young Children’s Construction of Science Concepts

Abstract

It has been observed that many young children like making marks on paper and that they enjoy the activity. It is also known that children's drawings are vehicles for expression and communication. Therefore, it would be logical and reasonable for teachers to incorporate children's drawings into building science concepts. To demonstrate how drawings are utilized to help a child to acquire a science concept, the article first presents a vignette of an interaction between an adult and a 5-year-old boy, focusing on the science concept of the physical characteristics of a spider. It is then followed by several analytical explanations of how drawings build children's understandings. Not only are the introduced strategies useful for one-on-one interactive communication, but also applicable to a small group of young children. The article ends with the specifics of how these strategies were applied to a group of four children in their acquisition of the science concept of the water cycle.

Tire Art: Environmental Education through Science, Visual and Language Arts

“…Ni Chang (2012) demonstrated "how drawings are utilized to help a child to acquire a science concept" (p.187). Using drawings before and after an arts integrated approach to science standards and objectives, Chang (2012) observed the evidence of a student's learning and stated that, "There is a clear difference between Kevin's first and second drawings of the spider that demonstrate his increased understanding of the science concept in the dimensions of Characteristics of Organism" (p.189) In this study, students showed increased unde rstanding of the concepts in their second drawings. Chang (2012) noted that, "The use of drawing to support children's acquisition of science concepts made the learning atmosphere more invigorating and enjoyable" (p.191).…”

“…Using drawings before and after an arts integrated approach to science standards and objectives, Chang (2012) observed the evidence of a student's learning and stated that, "There is a clear difference between Kevin's first and second drawings of the spider that demonstrate his increased understanding of the science concept in the dimensions of Characteristics of Organism" (p.189) In this study, students showed increased unde rstanding of the concepts in their second drawings. Chang (2012) noted that, "The use of drawing to support children's acquisition of science concepts made the learning atmosphere more invigorating and enjoyable" (p.191). Einarsdottir, Dockett, & Perry (2008) used the strategy of facilitating children's drawings in two separate countries to capture students' impressions of a concept as well as their visual thinking before and after an experience of school.…”

Collaborative Action Research on the Implementation of a Science Thematic Curriculum for Young Children

“…Research has shown that young children's drawings convey their science conceptual understanding at different levels (Chang, 2011(Chang, , 2012. Their drawings can play the role of assessment, teaching and learning, and communication of ideas with adults.…”

Flying, Feathery and Beaked Objects: Children’s Mental Models About Birds

“…Hall (2009) highlights that drawings are helpful tools for pre-school students for acquiring perception, communication, detection and action skills. Moreover, Chang (2012) underlines that in preschool science education, drawings provides data about child's learning on cognitive concepts and events and its extent, moderating configuration of knowledge, and its ability to provide active and entertaining learning process. According to Fello, Raquette and Jalongo (2006), especially in the childhood term, drawings have an important role on constructing science knowledge for developing mental models and also moderating learning process of scientific topics and shows understanding level on that topic.…”

“…Cinici (2013) underlines that while the drawings are limited by child's information about scientific knowledge, they are important assessment tools to evaluate scientific knowledge level. Especially in recent years, using drawings in scientific knowledge and phenomenon in early childhood term researches becoming popular (Chang, 2012).…”