ABSTRACT

Acquiring observational competences is an important task in early science education. It helps children to make a transition from seeing to observing and developing scientific process skills and science concepts. Outdoor education is seen by many researchers as optimal way for learning about life sciences, therefore ongoing loss of human interactions with nature is viewed as one of the most fundamental challenges. Using quasi-experimental design, we evaluated the effectiveness of one educational program where participating preschool children learned about forest organisms through direct experiences in the forest (direct experiences) and the other program where children learned only in the classroom watching videos, books, played various table games, etc. (vicarious experiences). A total of 129 Slovene children aged 3-6 years were interviewed a week before, immediately after and six weeks after the end of the programs. Four tasks measuring their skills of observation were used in the interviews. The results indicate that both educational programs improved their scientific skills. Direct experiences lead to higher increase and persistence of acquired skills. Direct experiences are seen as crucial for development of specific scientific skills of observing and classifying forest organisms, but to certain extent some skills can be alternatively acquired through vicarious experiences.

摘要

获得观察能力是早期科学教育的一项重要任务。它帮助孩子们从看到过渡到观察和发展科学过程技能和科学概念。许多研究人员认为户外教育是学习生命科学的最佳方式，因此人类与自然互动的持续丧失被视为最基本的挑战之一。使用准实验设计，我们评估了一项教育计划的有效性，其中参与的学龄前儿童通过在森林中的直接体验（直接体验）了解森林生物，而另一项计划儿童仅在课堂上通过观看视频、书籍、玩各种游戏来学习桌面游戏等（替代体验）。在项目结束前一周、之后和六周后，共有 129 名 3-6 岁的斯洛文尼亚儿童接受了采访。访谈中使用了四项衡量他们观察技能的任务。结果表明，这两个教育项目都提高了他们的科学技能。直接经验导致获得的技能有更高的增长和持久性。直接经验被认为对于发展观察和分类森林生物的特定科学技能至关重要，但在一定程度上，一些技能可以通过替代经验获得。直接经验导致获得的技能有更高的增长和持久性。直接经验被认为对于发展观察和分类森林生物的特定科学技能至关重要，但在一定程度上，一些技能可以通过替代经验获得。直接经验会导致获得的技能有更高的增长和持久性。直接经验被认为对于发展观察和分类森林生物的特定科学技能至关重要，但在一定程度上，一些技能可以通过替代经验获得。