Three-task interview protocol with a 3D sun-earth model for eliciting young children's causal explanations¶

Element · All elements
Evidence · 1 claim (1 for) · 1 study (1 qualitative), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 1 claim rests on one study

Description¶

The study's data-gathering instrument is a semi-structured interview protocol combining verbal explanation prompts with a 3D model of the sun (a yellow plastic ball) and earth (a plastic globe). Children arrange the model so a figure on the earth experiences day or night, and label researcher-arranged models, with cotton representing clouds offered when explanations involve blocked sunlight. Interviews were individual, audio-taped, and took approximately 10 minutes; responses were coded by two researchers with κ=0.85 agreement.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• A 3D model of the sun and earth, a child figure, and cotton for clouds; individual interviews in a quiet room

Constraints¶

• Three children could not be categorized because they produced insufficient utterances and failed or refused to manipulate or label models

Target Learners¶

• kindergartners (ages 60-75 months)

Target Learning Goals¶

• eliciting children's causal explanations of the day and night cycle

Affordances¶

• Mental Models Framework Day Night Cycle

Claims¶

• Kindergartners struggle to give verbal causal explanations, but model-based tasks let most of them express causal ideas [+W]

Related Elements¶

• Reflective written journal plus semi-structured interview data collection instruments

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• 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