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Puppets for science talk : its use and impact on students’ talk in primary science in the Singapore context
Author
Sim, Susan LeAnne Yen Chin
Supervisor
Chin, Christine
Subramaniam, R. (Ramanathan)
Abstract
Coupled with the inquiry approach in science is importantly, the crux of communicating, and this can be done largely through talk. Talk is a powerful way of supporting learning and understanding in science (Newton, 2002). Unfortunately, many local Science teachers face the arduous challenge of motivating children to talk Science. Teachers often see the Science classrooms as characterised by a dearth of students‟ questions and talk (Wellington and Osborne, 2001).
The research on the PUPPETS approach in the UK context by Simon, Naylor, Keogh, Downing and Maloney (2008) had demonstrated benefits of the use of puppets to create opportunities for interactions that generated talk comprising the articulation of students‟ ideas and reasoning. This research, thus proposed to find out if the use of puppets, as a stimulus for discussion, could aid local teachers in getting the students to be more enthusiastic about Science, and be more engaged in dialogues through more talk. It extended the PUPPETS approach and investigated how the use of puppets can be enhanced by complementing it with Concept Cartoons and an adapted version of the Toulmin‟s argument pattern (TAP), known as the Reasoning Pattern (RP), to create a more structured scaffold to develop students‟ thinking and reasoning skills.
Student-participants in this study were 140 students from four homogenous Primary Five classes, aged 10-11 years. These participants were grouped into two experimental classes, A and B, and two control classes, C and D, with only the experimental group having the puppets and the reasoning scaffold (RP) introduced and used in all four sessions of the study. A Pre-test-Post-test design was used to find out if there would be any significant impact of the use of puppets on 1) students‟ attitudes towards science, 2) quality of reasoning in science in written form, and, 3) motivation to talk and contribute in science lessons. The student-participants‟ attitudes in science were assessed using student perception surveys while the quality of the students‟ reasoning in science was assessed in the written form using the Pre-test and Post-test Concept Cartoon worksheets. The students‟ motivation to talk and contribute in science classrooms was measured by the participation rate to contribute to responses or ask questions. The pre-post test scores and participation rates are proxy to the quality of reasoning and the motivation to talk, respectively.
Results from the perception survey administered after the use of puppets reflected a significantly positive impact on students‟ perceptions towards science learning from the experimental group, suggesting that the use of puppets indeed heightened more interest and fostered better attitudes towards science learning. In addition, students in the experimental group participated more significantly in a whole class setting and in their small groups than students in the control group, implying that the use of puppets motivated them to talk and contribute more. Finally, students from the experimental group scored better and thus reasoned with higher quality scientific explanations, as compared to those reasoning skills by the control group. The use of puppets as a new, more dialogic practice to teach science as well as skills in communications and critical thinking is strongly encouraged.
The research on the PUPPETS approach in the UK context by Simon, Naylor, Keogh, Downing and Maloney (2008) had demonstrated benefits of the use of puppets to create opportunities for interactions that generated talk comprising the articulation of students‟ ideas and reasoning. This research, thus proposed to find out if the use of puppets, as a stimulus for discussion, could aid local teachers in getting the students to be more enthusiastic about Science, and be more engaged in dialogues through more talk. It extended the PUPPETS approach and investigated how the use of puppets can be enhanced by complementing it with Concept Cartoons and an adapted version of the Toulmin‟s argument pattern (TAP), known as the Reasoning Pattern (RP), to create a more structured scaffold to develop students‟ thinking and reasoning skills.
Student-participants in this study were 140 students from four homogenous Primary Five classes, aged 10-11 years. These participants were grouped into two experimental classes, A and B, and two control classes, C and D, with only the experimental group having the puppets and the reasoning scaffold (RP) introduced and used in all four sessions of the study. A Pre-test-Post-test design was used to find out if there would be any significant impact of the use of puppets on 1) students‟ attitudes towards science, 2) quality of reasoning in science in written form, and, 3) motivation to talk and contribute in science lessons. The student-participants‟ attitudes in science were assessed using student perception surveys while the quality of the students‟ reasoning in science was assessed in the written form using the Pre-test and Post-test Concept Cartoon worksheets. The students‟ motivation to talk and contribute in science classrooms was measured by the participation rate to contribute to responses or ask questions. The pre-post test scores and participation rates are proxy to the quality of reasoning and the motivation to talk, respectively.
Results from the perception survey administered after the use of puppets reflected a significantly positive impact on students‟ perceptions towards science learning from the experimental group, suggesting that the use of puppets indeed heightened more interest and fostered better attitudes towards science learning. In addition, students in the experimental group participated more significantly in a whole class setting and in their small groups than students in the control group, implying that the use of puppets motivated them to talk and contribute more. Finally, students from the experimental group scored better and thus reasoned with higher quality scientific explanations, as compared to those reasoning skills by the control group. The use of puppets as a new, more dialogic practice to teach science as well as skills in communications and critical thinking is strongly encouraged.
Date Issued
2011
Call Number
Q183.4.S55 Sim
Date Submitted
2011