Abstract:

Human’s first attempt to visualize and represent various experiences and physical phenomena started 42,000 years ago. From these first visualizations until the modern 3D representations we can share/gather valuable information on how the world works. Visualizations have proven to be effective teaching and learning tools in science education. For instance, visualizations can transform invisible scientific processes (e.g., processes at a molecular level) into visible processes. There are various types of visualizations that can be used across all domains and at all levels of science education. However, research in this domain has focused mostly on older students, which has resulted in not having strong evidence on how visualizations in science education affect early ages.

The purpose of this study was to identify which of the characteristics of visualisations can make them more effective with regard to the conceptual understanding of young children. In so doing, we focused on students’ level of understanding (i.e., by measuring their performance on content oriented questions), while exposing children to different types of visualizations: sketches pictures, cartoons, realistic photos, realistic videos and holograms (3D representations). The framing of the study was grounded on the cognitive load theory.

The sample of the study consisted of 150 children (75 kindergarten students and 75 grade 4 students). Each age group was divided in five groups of 15 students based on the type of visualisations used (i.e., sketches, cartoons, realistic photos, realistic videos and holograms). Semi-structured interviews were used as the main tool to collect data for this mixed method study. The interview focused on basic astronomy concepts, namely the shape of the sun and the earth, the earth movements and the changing of day and night. None of the students had a previous formal teaching on these concepts. The data analyses followed both qualitative (e.g., open coding and classification of students ideas on the concepts at task) and quantitative (i.e., use of statistical tests) procedures.

Results showed that the use of holograms and moving visualizations (i.e., cartoon-like and realistic videos) better support student learning in both age groups, as opposed to the other types of visualisations. Static images were found to have the least effect on students’ learning. These findings appear to point towards a particular direction in terms of the type of visualizations that should be used in early science education. The latter has implications both at the curriculum and policy levels.

Keywords:

Visualizations, holograms.