PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ CONCEPTIONS ABOUT OWLS, EXPERIENCES WITH OWLS AND THEIR SOURCES OF INFORMATION
2019
The present research explores
benefits of using young students’ drawings
in combination with written responses for
gathering information about science concepts.
Younger students are still very limited
in their verbal expression and less biologically
literate than older students. The aim was
to determine primary school students’ conceptions
about owls, experiences with owls
and their sources of information, and to then
determine how beneficial it is to combine
information gathered from drawings and
written responses in comparison to previous
research done with lower secondary school
students. Altogether, 280 students attending
fourth and fifth grades from schools
in Slovenia participated in the research.
Students knew well the specific features of
owls. Drawings provided more clear information
about body parts and proportions,
while owls’ specific habitats, behaviours and
diet were more thoroughly described in their
written responses. Students without experiences
with living owls represented owls less
thoroughly. Comparison of frequencies of
responses in main categories of conceptions
about owls showed that using drawings
and written responses is equally beneficial
for younger and older students. Gathering
primary school students’ conceptions about
science concepts with both drawings and
written responses enables better assessment
of a student’s knowledge than using just
drawings or written responses.
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