From Doing to Learning: Changed Focus during a Pre-School Learning Study Project on Organic Decomposition.

The purpose of this study is to examine how the Learning Study (LS) model is used to develop learning about natural sciences topics, more specifically organic processes of decomposition (rotting), in a Swedish preschool. In the LS model, the taskforce consisting of researchers and early childhood educators collaborate on developing the intervention. The intervention is tested, and then the taskforce evaluate, analyse and adapt the intervention, which forms the basis for a new trial.

The study has two research questions:

1. What changes in the children's perception of processes of decomposition can be observed?
2. How is the intervention changed during the LS process?

The LS project shows that the object of learning (organic processes of decomposition) is a complex process. The average kindergarten child had difficulties understanding the process, particularly based on participation in one single intervention. The children who took part in the later cycles tended to be better at distinguishing between aspects of the organic process of decomposition despite their age and the relatively short intervention period.

The study attributes this better understanding to the changes in the intervention in the three cycles. For example, the changes were characterised by greater focus on what the children should learn. In cycle A, the process was introduced as a fairy-tale, and the children therefore found it difficult to identify the purpose of the activity. In cycle C, the activity was organised as a scientific activity. The change from A to C was also characterised by the fact that the early childhood educators used more scientific terms during the activity (e.g. rot and mould). Moreover, their focus was on using contrast in order to examine the learning object, e.g. by showing fresh and rotten tomatoes simultaneously.

The study is an intervention study. Researchers and early childhood educators developed the content of the intervention in an LS project. The project was conducted in three cycles (A, B and C) with different children and early childhood educators in each cycle. After each cycle, researchers and all the early childhood educators evaluated and analysed the intervention, which was developed and tested in the relevant cycle. This analysis forms the basis for adaptation of the intervention in the next cycle.

The data basis primarily consists of 78 interviews conducted with the children before and after the intervention. The children were between 4 and 6 years of age. They were asked whether they knew and were able to explain a specific natural phenomenon (decomposition of different materials in nature) before and after the intervention. Their explanations were then assessed qualitatively by the researchers on the basis of a number of criteria and translated into a quantitative score. These scores served as a basis for assessing the impact of the intervention, measured as the average improvement in the score before and after the intervention. In addition, notes from analysis meetings with researchers and early childhood educators were included in the study to answer questions about how the intervention changed from cycle A to cycle C.

Ljung-Djärf, A., Magnusson, A. & Peterson, S. (2014). ”From Doing to Learning: Changed Focus during a Pre-School Learning Study Project on Organic Decomposition”. International Journal of Science Education, 36(4), 659-676.