Learning science through a collaborative invention project in primary school

Kati Sormunen, Saara Vehmaa, Pirita Seitamaa-Hakkarainen, Jari Lavonen, Kai Hakkarainen, Kalle Juuti

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The study examines students’ disciplinary learning in physics and interdisciplinary science learning opportunities that students encounter during a collaborative invention project. Thirteen student teams (aged 11 to 12, N = 46) designed and constructed a prototype of a technology invention meant to solve one of the challenges students face in daily life. The data was collected from a physics achievement test taken both before and after the invention project and artifacts (student essays and process portfolios) that students constructed during the project. Seven inventions were categorized as physics-intensive and six as non-physics in nature. The change in students’ achievement prior to and after the invention project was rather modest, and the increase was related to the level of physics-intensity of the inventions made during the project. However, the process portfolios revealed various interdisciplinary science learning opportunities and physics learning that could not be identified with the achievement test. Further, the co-occurrence analysis revealed several interdisciplinary learning opportunities that connected physics contents to the interdisciplinary themes. Working with varied materials and technologies and experimenting with them enabled the students to ponder different science topics and perhaps deepen their understanding through creative problem-solving. We conclude that such collaborative invention projects challenge teachers to take an active role in designing invention challenges so as to more explicitly interlink students’ invention processes with science learning. In order to foster students’ science learning opportunities, teachers should intensively evaluate each student-team’s learning throughout the project and use portfolios to reflect on and scaffold their science learning systematically.

Original languageEnglish
Article number6
JournalDisciplinary and Interdisciplinary Science Education Research
Volume5
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2023

Keywords

  • Elementary-level education
  • Invention pedagogy
  • Learning by making
  • Physics learning
  • Science and engineering practices
  • Science learning

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Pharmacology
  • Social Sciences (miscellaneous)

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Learning science through a collaborative invention project in primary school'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this