Materiell som vilkår for utforsking innen fagområdet natur, miljø og teknikk i barnehagen

Despite international emphasis on the advantage of children’s exploration, there is limited knowledge about how availability of physical materials influence children´s exploratory activities. This paper presents findings from a study that examined the availability and use of materials related to sc...

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Main Authors: Anne S. E. Hammer, Liv Torunn Grindheim
Format: Article
Language:Danish
Published: University of Oslo 2023-03-01
Series:Nordina: Nordic Studies in Science Education
Online Access:https://journals-test.uio.no/nordina/article/view/9662
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author Anne S. E. Hammer
Liv Torunn Grindheim
author_facet Anne S. E. Hammer
Liv Torunn Grindheim
author_sort Anne S. E. Hammer
collection DOAJ
description Despite international emphasis on the advantage of children’s exploration, there is limited knowledge about how availability of physical materials influence children´s exploratory activities. This paper presents findings from a study that examined the availability and use of materials related to science in 26 Norwegian kindergartens. Data were collected by kindergarten teacher students during their practice in kindergartens. Quantitative data were gathered using checklists, qualitative data by observations of children´s activities involving science related materials. The quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed separately and then together using the three categories of exploratory activities introduced by Neuman: formal activities, informal activities and incidental activities. Our findings surface that most kindergartens had much of the materials listed in the checklist, but much of it was locked up and only a few of the objects, such as vinyl animals and books, were available for children´s informal activities. We also found that formal activities gave stimuli to informal activities, which highlights the importance of including children in collective activities as working with theme or projects over time. Only one of the activities in our data was categorized as incidental. Our findings indicate that benefits of using materials to extend children`s exploration are not taken fully advantage of and should be further discussed and highlighted.
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spelling doaj.art-0c8dd08a1b974949968b70de90a32eb62023-12-19T16:10:09ZdanUniversity of OsloNordina: Nordic Studies in Science Education1504-45561894-12572023-03-0119110.5617/nordina.9662Materiell som vilkår for utforsking innen fagområdet natur, miljø og teknikk i barnehagenAnne S. E. Hammer0Liv Torunn Grindheim1Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, NorwayWestern Norway University of Applied Sciences, Norway Despite international emphasis on the advantage of children’s exploration, there is limited knowledge about how availability of physical materials influence children´s exploratory activities. This paper presents findings from a study that examined the availability and use of materials related to science in 26 Norwegian kindergartens. Data were collected by kindergarten teacher students during their practice in kindergartens. Quantitative data were gathered using checklists, qualitative data by observations of children´s activities involving science related materials. The quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed separately and then together using the three categories of exploratory activities introduced by Neuman: formal activities, informal activities and incidental activities. Our findings surface that most kindergartens had much of the materials listed in the checklist, but much of it was locked up and only a few of the objects, such as vinyl animals and books, were available for children´s informal activities. We also found that formal activities gave stimuli to informal activities, which highlights the importance of including children in collective activities as working with theme or projects over time. Only one of the activities in our data was categorized as incidental. Our findings indicate that benefits of using materials to extend children`s exploration are not taken fully advantage of and should be further discussed and highlighted. https://journals-test.uio.no/nordina/article/view/9662
spellingShingle Anne S. E. Hammer
Liv Torunn Grindheim
Materiell som vilkår for utforsking innen fagområdet natur, miljø og teknikk i barnehagen
Nordina: Nordic Studies in Science Education
title Materiell som vilkår for utforsking innen fagområdet natur, miljø og teknikk i barnehagen
title_full Materiell som vilkår for utforsking innen fagområdet natur, miljø og teknikk i barnehagen
title_fullStr Materiell som vilkår for utforsking innen fagområdet natur, miljø og teknikk i barnehagen
title_full_unstemmed Materiell som vilkår for utforsking innen fagområdet natur, miljø og teknikk i barnehagen
title_short Materiell som vilkår for utforsking innen fagområdet natur, miljø og teknikk i barnehagen
title_sort materiell som vilkar for utforsking innen fagomradet natur miljo og teknikk i barnehagen
url https://journals-test.uio.no/nordina/article/view/9662
work_keys_str_mv AT annesehammer materiellsomvilkarforutforskinginnenfagomradetnaturmiljøogteknikkibarnehagen
AT livtorunngrindheim materiellsomvilkarforutforskinginnenfagomradetnaturmiljøogteknikkibarnehagen