Preschool Teachers’ Beliefs and Pedagogical Practices in the Integration of Technology:
A Case for Engaging
Young Children in Scientific Inquiry
Sarika Kewalramani 1 ,
Sari Havu-Nuutinen 2
1 Monash University,
AUSTRALIA
2 University of
Eastern Finland, FINLAND
EURASIA Journal of Mathematics,
Science and Technology Education, 2019, 15(12), em1784
ABSTRACT
This
paper presents findings from an on-going international study (Australia and
Finland) of preschool teachers’ beliefs and pedagogical practices in the
integration of technology to engage young children in learning science.
Scarcely used in early childhood education research, this study is framed using
Mishra and Koehler’s (2006) Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge
(TPACK) theory. Case studies presented in this paper are undertaken with data
collected from three preschools in Australia. Participant observation of
teachers’ (N = 7) and children’s play experiences, and semi-structured
interviews, revealed that teachers occasionally used iPads and some apps within
their intentionally constructed science investigations, both for
teacher-initiated research and for communicating with parents via children’s
journals. Teachers were not adverse to, but rather accepting of embedding
technology as a pedagogical affordance and keen on planning for multimodal
science-based experiences. The findings of this study imply the need for a
pedagogical shift, wherein teachers’ technological pedagogical knowledge
improves in how and when to sensibly integrate technology for children’s
engagement in scientific inquiry, rather than relying on hands-on experiences
alone. Implications lie in more closely aligning teachers’ TPK and related
practices with science content knowledge by co-researching together with children
and foregrounding both teachers’ and children’s perspectives.
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Expanding
Shulman’s (1986) concept of Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (PCK), Mishra and
Koehler (2006) added an additional domain of technological knowledge into PCK
and created the TPACK framework in order to teach effectively. This study looks
at the complex interplay and interaction between teachers’ Pedagogical
Knowledge (PK) and Technological Knowledge (TK) when teaching science concepts.
Teachers’ Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK) is considered to be the
basis of effective teaching with the integration of technology, especially in
the context of play-based pedagogical practices in preschool settings. Chuang
and Ho (2011, p.101-102) define TPK as “the knowledge of how technology can
create new representations for specific content and can impact the practices
and knowledge of a given discipline”. The authors suggest that when teachers
understand, by utilising a specific technology as a teaching and learning tool,
they can change the way in which learners practise and comprehend concepts in a
specific content area; scientific concepts, in the case of the current study.
This includes the knowledge of pedagogical affordances and constraints of
different technological tools.
Figure 1 TPACK conceptual framework in a
preschool context for science teaching
Data Analysis
Firstly,
the teacher observations and documentation were analysed using the teacher
observational protocol (Table 1) underpinning the study’s TPACK conceptual
framework (Figure 1).
In
the second stage of data analysis, for the seven teachers’ interviews, thematic
analysis was conducted by drawing on the elements of the TPACK framework (TPK,
TK, PK). This revealed teacher’s beliefs, perceptions and related experiences
of using technology while planning and engaging children in learning science.
Figure 2 Example of Digestive system model in
ELC 3 room
Figure
2 provides two photos of how the children and Tina together researched and
gathered information, downloaded a printable of the human body structure and
depicted what changes happen to food when it goes inside the body.
Subsequently, they developed a model of the digestive system, thus blending the
use of internet research and hands-on materials.
Figure 3 Use of Bee-bots in ELC 4 room
In
Kenny’s ELC 4 classroom, observations showed that he judiciously planned for
technology-constructed experiences. Kenny provided opportunities for children
to discuss their scientific explorations and understandings with their peers as
well as the teacher using iPad apps. His choice of technology and his TPK
seemed instrumental in stimulating children’s curiosity and problem solving.
For example, as seen in Figure 3, using technology-based toys such as Bee-bots
for coding, children learned to program the Bee-bot to reach a certain target.
Kenny used questions such as “How many times do you think it will need to go
forward, estimate”. Children were invited to take turns and encouraged to
achieve their target using trial and error. Document analysis showed the
rationale behind this activity was to instigate children’s creative thinking
skills and be able to exercise control over tech-toys such as Bee-bots, while
also practising coding. He had clear learning objectives in his planning for
technology-based experiences, where children learned to persist in
problem-solving challenges.
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