Fostering Critical Reflection in Primary Education through STEAM Approaches
This paper describes a quantitative study that explores teaching practices in primary education to sustain the hypothesis that students’ critical thinking may be activated through individual and group reflection. The study examines the quality of the reflections from primary school students during g...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-12-01
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| Series: | Education Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/10/12/384 |
| _version_ | 1797544524734529536 |
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| author | Marcel Bassachs Dolors Cañabate Lluís Nogué Teresa Serra Remigijus Bubnys Jordi Colomer |
| author_facet | Marcel Bassachs Dolors Cañabate Lluís Nogué Teresa Serra Remigijus Bubnys Jordi Colomer |
| author_sort | Marcel Bassachs |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper describes a quantitative study that explores teaching practices in primary education to sustain the hypothesis that students’ critical thinking may be activated through individual and group reflection. The study examines the quality of the reflections from primary school students during group processing when participating in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM) instructional approaches. The project’s core methodology lies in scientific (physics) and artistic (dance) instructional activities which were executed in a continuous reflective and cooperative learning environment. The educational approach was refined by analyzing the reflective discussions from focus groups where descriptive, argumentative, reflective and critical reflective knowledge about acquired knowledge, competences, beliefs, attitudes and emotions were considered. While the educational intervention proved that 1st-year (K-7) students essentially reflected at the level of description, 3rd-year (K-9) and 5th-year (K-11) students, however, attained higher levels of individual critical reflection development than initially anticipated. The STEAM approaches were found to produce significant use and understanding of both science and artistic concepts and to increase a sense of competence readiness and a perception of modes of cooperation such as individual responsibility and promotive interaction. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T14:01:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-239824f22d1743f898836d2a519e9f06 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2227-7102 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T14:01:46Z |
| publishDate | 2020-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Education Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-239824f22d1743f898836d2a519e9f062023-11-21T01:00:03ZengMDPI AGEducation Sciences2227-71022020-12-01101238410.3390/educsci10120384Fostering Critical Reflection in Primary Education through STEAM ApproachesMarcel Bassachs0Dolors Cañabate1Lluís Nogué2Teresa Serra3Remigijus Bubnys4Jordi Colomer5Department of Pedagogy, University of Girona, 17004 Girona, SpainDepartment of Specific Didactics, University of Girona, 17004 Girona, SpainDepartment of Specific Didactics, University of Girona, 17004 Girona, SpainDepartment of Physics, University of Girona, 17003 Girona, SpainInstitute of Education, Siauliai University, 25 Visinskio Street, 76351 Siauliai, LithuaniaTeaching Innovation Networks on Reflective and Cooperative Learning, Institute of Sciences Education, University of Girona, 17003 Girona, SpainThis paper describes a quantitative study that explores teaching practices in primary education to sustain the hypothesis that students’ critical thinking may be activated through individual and group reflection. The study examines the quality of the reflections from primary school students during group processing when participating in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM) instructional approaches. The project’s core methodology lies in scientific (physics) and artistic (dance) instructional activities which were executed in a continuous reflective and cooperative learning environment. The educational approach was refined by analyzing the reflective discussions from focus groups where descriptive, argumentative, reflective and critical reflective knowledge about acquired knowledge, competences, beliefs, attitudes and emotions were considered. While the educational intervention proved that 1st-year (K-7) students essentially reflected at the level of description, 3rd-year (K-9) and 5th-year (K-11) students, however, attained higher levels of individual critical reflection development than initially anticipated. The STEAM approaches were found to produce significant use and understanding of both science and artistic concepts and to increase a sense of competence readiness and a perception of modes of cooperation such as individual responsibility and promotive interaction.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/10/12/384learningSTEAM educationcompetencecritical reflection |
| spellingShingle | Marcel Bassachs Dolors Cañabate Lluís Nogué Teresa Serra Remigijus Bubnys Jordi Colomer Fostering Critical Reflection in Primary Education through STEAM Approaches Education Sciences learning STEAM education competence critical reflection |
| title | Fostering Critical Reflection in Primary Education through STEAM Approaches |
| title_full | Fostering Critical Reflection in Primary Education through STEAM Approaches |
| title_fullStr | Fostering Critical Reflection in Primary Education through STEAM Approaches |
| title_full_unstemmed | Fostering Critical Reflection in Primary Education through STEAM Approaches |
| title_short | Fostering Critical Reflection in Primary Education through STEAM Approaches |
| title_sort | fostering critical reflection in primary education through steam approaches |
| topic | learning STEAM education competence critical reflection |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/10/12/384 |
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