Conceptual Change in Preschool Science Education: Evaluating a Serious Game Designed with Image Schemas for Teaching Sound Concept

摘要

Restructuring and developing child's conceptions and explanatory models about the nature science is a key issue for elementary education. This study evaluates an interactive game that makes use of specific instructional strategy to facilitate children's learning of sound concept. By extracting image schemas which exist in children's mental models of understanding sound concept and its scientific explanations, a tablet-based serious game was designed through expressing the analogies where these image schemas were used. The degree of children's conceptual change was compared by implementing pre-, post- and delayed post-test. The results showed that children who had experienced the serious game more accurately answered relevant questions and explained sound concepts. Since conceptual change requires a long-term learning process, the main purpose of study is to help children quickly acquire a basic understanding of the science concept and enhance their learning motivation in kindergarten class.