Supporting inquiry in the primary years - childrenu27s science questions and how teachers deal with them

摘要

From 2013, Australian teachers of Preparatory Year to Year 10 will be required to fully implement the new Australian Curriculum: Science. An insight into what science questions children may ask would be beneficial in light of teachersu27 interaction with this new curriculum over the coming years. This study investigated the types of science questions children have in response to a visual stimulus of lunar phenomena. It also examined teachersu27 responses to those questions. A review of the literature highlighted the importance of childrenu27s questions, however, there had been considerable research about teachersu27 questions and proportionally little about childrenu27s questions.Data were gathered through classroom observations of children posing questions, teacher observations and interviews, and teacher questionnaires. One hundred and forty-five teachers completed the questionnaire. Part 1 of the questionnaire asked teachers about their responses to childrenu27s science questions. Part 2 was a multiple-choice test using five childrenu27s questions about the Moon. Six teachers and their classes (Year 6) participated in the study group. The children were shown three pictures of the Moon and asked to share questions they had about the relevant phenomena. Some children asked no questions and others asked several.