Abstract

CANEDO-IBARRA, Sabrina Patricia et al. Conceptual Change and Construction of Precursory Scientific Models in Early Childhood Education. RMIE [online]. 2012, vol.17, n.54, pp.691-727. ISSN 1405-6666.

The line of research on conceptual change has been one of the most fruitful in science teaching in recent years; however, studies have not analyzed the process among preschool children. This article analyzes the epistemological and ontological changes in five- and six-year-old children's conceptions of living things, following a period of instruction that employed dialogue and a didactic strategy based on the construction of a precursory scientific model. The results, determined from an analysis of interviews, show that the changes gave rise to two learning patterns: one pattern in transition, in which children are in a process of constructing a precursory scientific model; and a scientific pattern in which most of the children construct the model.

Keywords : conceptual change; models; scientific education; early childhood education; Spain.