The majority (63%) of kindergartners hold naïve mental models of the day and night cycle, with the distance model the most common¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · qualitative r3 · q2
Currency · newest study 2015 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2020: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

q2 i? 63% of 46 kindergartners held initial (naïve) mental models, and the distance model (sun moving back-and-forth from earth) was the most common, held by 17 children (37%). → Saçkes 2015

Evidence¶

Saçkes 2015¶

Saçkes, M. (2015). Kindergartners' Mental Models of the Day and Night Cycle: Implications for Instructional Practices in Early Childhood Classrooms. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice, 15(4), 997-1006. https://doi.org/10.12738/estp.2015.4.2741

q2 · i? · qualitative · r3

Descriptive interview study of 46 kindergartners (22 boys, 24 girls, mean age 67 months) from three state preschools in Balıkesir, coded with model identification methodology (κ=0.85). The results section reports "The majority of the children (63%) had initial (naïve) mental models" and the distance model most common; Table 3 shows 17 children (37%) held the distance model.

"The majority of the children (63%) had initial (naïve) mental models of the day and night cycle. The distance model was the most common initial model held by the children."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Few kindergartners hold synthetic (18%) or scientific (13%) models of the day and night cycle despite no formal instruction — related
• Boys and girls do not differ in the type of mental models of the day and night cycle they hold — related
• Kindergartners struggle to give verbal causal explanations, but model-based tasks let most of them express causal ideas — related