In the last 30 years, 4 distinct theoretical approaches have been described for early childhood science education. The approaches are, empiricist, Piagetian, socio-cognitive and socio-cultural. Drawing on the differences among these approaches regarding the theoretical framework adopted in teaching, the role that is assigned to the teacher during the activity and the actions that are expected from the children, we aimed to serve 2 purposes with this research. Firstly, to elicit the in-service pre-school teachers' beliefs about teaching practices for natural sciences and to record the approaches that these beliefs match. To fulfil this purpose, a new instrument was developed. Secondly, to examine the instrument's validity and reliability. The participants in the study were 94 pre-school teachers who served in public schools in 2 prefectures in Greece. Research findings suggest that pre-school teachers tend to state that they mainly adopt practices that fit the empiricist approach while practices that fit the socio-cognitive approach are not used so often. Finally, they seem to rarely follow practices that fit the socio-cultural and Piagetian approaches.

Resumen Se desencadenan procesos representativos en los alumnos respecto a los conocimientos escolares. Estudiamos las representaciones sociales del átomo, en un contexto escolar y, más concretamente, con estudiantes franceses y griegos de educación general. Conocer la estructuración y el contenido semántico de una representación permite identificar los obstáculos para el aprendizaje, pero también contribuye al desarrollo del trabajo transpositivo en la enseñanza. El enfoque metodológico se basa en el análisis prototípico y categórico de las representaciones sociales. De la comparación de los resultados, se concluyen importantes convergencias, como la confusión entre átomo y molécula.

Abstract Representative processes are triggered in students about what they know at school. We study the social representations of the atom, in the school context and, more specifically, with French and Greek pupils in general education. Knowing the structuring and semantic content of a representation allows us to identify obstacles to learning, but also contributes to the development of the work transposed into teaching. The methodological approach is based on the prototypical and categorical analysis of social representations. From the comparison of the results, we conclude important convergences, such as the confusion between atom and molecule.

Résumé Des processus représentatifs se déclenchent chez les élèves à propos des savoirs scolaires. Nous étudions les représentations sociales de l’atome, en contexte scolaire et, plus précisément, auprès d’élèves français et grecs de l’éducation générale. Connaître la structuration et le contenu sémantique d’une représentation permet de repérer des obstacles à l’apprentissage, mais également contribue à la mise au point du travail transpositif dans l’enseignement. La démarche méthodologique s’appuie sur l’analyse prototypique et catégorielle des représentations sociales. De la comparaison des résultats, nous concluons des convergences importantes, comme la confusion entre atome et molécule.

This paper presents a study of how preschool-aged children go about creating and operating a simple electric circuit (wires, light bulb, and battery), and how they view the elements that comprise it, particularly how they view the role of the battery. The research involved 108 children aged between five and six, who were individually interviewed. The results of the study show that the children have already begun to form representations which link the battery, the light bulb and the wires to electrical functions, and that the majority of children are able, with or without help, to successfully create a simple electric circuit. Moreover, their involvement in the process of creating and operating such a circuit leads many children not only to a comprehensive viewing of the circuit, but also to the creation of a pre-energy thought-form in which the battery is acknowledged as the distribution source of an entity which is responsible for the luminescence of the light bulb.

In this paper we present a theoretical framework sociocognitive devoted to the study of knowledge construction of the physical world in children of 5-7 years. The framework consists of a joint theoretical elements (representations, precursor models, objectives-obstacles, mediation and tutoring) produced by the theories of social interactionism, social psychology and the development of cognitive functioning and results research into the teaching of physical science, recognize the importance and role of social interaction in the development of cognitive operations and learning. This article also presents some of the most significant results of research on various aspects of the approach. The discussion of these results can help to make clear the assumption that both the construction of knowledge of physical phenomena as the creation of school activities are necessary and effective at the age of 5-7 years.

Dans cet article nous présentons un cadre théorique sociocognitif consacré à l'étude de la construction des connaissances du monde physique chez les enfants de 5-7 ans. Ce cadre se compose d'une articulation des éléments théoriques (représentations, modèles précurseurs, objectifs-obstacles, médiation et tutelle) produits par les théories de l'interactionnisme social, de la psychologie sociale du développement et du fonctionnement cognitif et par les résultats de la recherche en didactique des sciences physiques qui, en général, reconnaissent l'importance et le rôle fondamental de l'interaction sociale dans le développement d'opérations cognitives et d'apprentissages. Cet article présente également quelques-uns des résultats les plus significatifs des recherches effectuées sur différents aspects de l'approche choisie. La discussion de ces résultats peut conduire à rendre claire l'hypothèse selon laquelle, tant la construction des connaissances des phénomènes physiques que la création d'activités scolaires sont nécessaires et efficaces à l'âge de 5-7 ans.

En este artículo se presenta un marco teórico sociocognitivo dedicado al estudio de la construcción de conocimiento del mundo físico en niños de 5-7 años. El marco consiste en un conjunto de elementos teóricos (representaciones, los modelos precursores, los objetivos-obstáculos, la mediación y la tutela) producido por las teorías del interaccionismo social, psicología social y el desarrollo del funcionamiento cognitivo y los resultados la investigatión sobre la eneseñanza de la física, reconocen la importancia y el papel de la interacción social en el desarrollo de las operaciones cognitivas y de aprendizaje. Este artículo también presenta algunos de los resultados más significativos de la investigación sobre diversos aspectos de la aproximación. La discusión de estos resultados puede ayudar a aclarar el supuesto de que tanto la construcción del conocimiento de los fenómenos físicos como la creación de actividades escolares son necesarias y eficaces a la edad de 5-7 años

Resumo: Nos últimos anos as pesquisas sobre as dificuldades de ensino e de aprendizagem das ciências físicas têm conduzido o desenvolvimento a Didáticas das Ciências Físicas como um campo científico relativamente autônomo. O quadro de pesquisa e de aplicação proposto por esse campo tem influenciado um certo número de modificações em diversos sistemas educativos. Esse artigo apresenta uma discussão e uma tentativa de modelização de propostas curriculares abordando o conceito de energia. È desenvolvida a hipótese de que a passagem de uma abordagem empírico-descritiva da estrutura, do conteúdo e da aplicação do conceito de energia a um estudo que utiliza conceitos fundamentais oriundos da pesquisa em ensino de Física oferece novas perspectivas de ensino.