Annick Weil-Barais

Bio: Annick Weil-Barais is an academic researcher from University of Angers. The author has contributed to research in topics: Constructivism (philosophy of education) & Semiotics. The author has an hindex of 7, co-authored 31 publications receiving 148 citations.

Constructivist approaches and the teaching of science

Abstract: The teaching methods for science that developed in France from the 1970s onwards, in conjunction with various attempts to renew science teaching, were largely inspired by constructivism. Approaching epistemology as constructivists, the physicists interested in science education found in Piaget’s work a model child in tune with their own representation: a child who is active and curious, spontaneously attentive to objects and phenomena, working out concepts of the world, experimenting tirelessly, alive to contradictions, keen to be rational and intelligible, and so on. This article covers the beginnings of science-teaching theory in France, the development of research in that area and the renewed interest in constructivism by decision-makers and practitioners.

Diferentes fazeres, diferentes saberes: a ação de monitores em espaços não escolares

Abstract: Este artigo discute a metodologia utilizada para caracterizar os saberes praticos e teoricos de um monitor em uma sequencia de construcao de um micro foguete durante uma colonia de ferias. Sao propostos dois tipos de analise: uma global da sequencia que visa o estabelecimento de sua cronologia e outra proposicional para a categorizacao do discurso do monitor em dois episodios. Na primeira analise, as acoes e tarefas enunciadas pelo monitor constituem o protocolo efetivo da sequencia e evidencia sua organizacao no tempo e no espaco assim como a gestao de diferentes fazeres do monitor. Na segunda, encontramos indicacoes de saberes e estrategias centrados na gestao de configuracoes espaciais multiplas, na nominacao e na qualificacao dos elementos constitutivos do objeto tecnico.

Éducation scientifique et développement intellectuel du jeune enfant

Abstract: In this study, we attempt to understand better the influence of scientific teaching on the intellectual development of 5 to 6 year old children. The conception of child intellectual development used is based on a model suggested by Piaget and Garcia, which explains the transformations of the understanding of the world by young children, and on Vygotskian conception which emphasizes the importance of the adult mediation and tutoring. Then, we developed a sequence of activities involving the understanding of shadow formation by young children, with the aim of transforming the way they understand physical phenomena. This sequence was carried out in kindergarten, with a group of pupils thought by their own teacher. The children's progresses were analysed, using their own statements and graphic productions, obtained during individual interviews achieved first before the teaching sequence, and then two months later. The collected data show that children progress in their reading of reality, as they come out of the purely perceptive framework (";;;intra-objectal";;;), by building observables which imply an ";;; inter-objectal ";;; treatment of physical phenomena. These conclusions reinforce the idea that a scientific initiation in kindergarten, based on a good knowledge of the children's abilities, contributes to their intellectual development.

Approche cognitive et développementale de la médiation en contexte d'enseignement-apprentissage

Abstract: Cet article presente differentes conceptions de la mediation cognitive ainsi qu’une proposition de systematisation de la description de la mediation. Le cadre general decrit est illustre par une etude concernant une sequence d’enseignement destine a des eleves de grande section de maternelle dans le domaine des sciences.

Contexte social et interactionnel d'activités expérimentales à l'école primaire

Abstract: A partir de l'analyse de la transcription de deux lecons de sciences a l'ecole elementaire sur la flottaison des corps, dans deux classes conduites par la meme maitresse experimentee, les auteurs decrivent les contextes social et interactionnel susceptibles de rendre compte des activites d'apprentissage des demarches experimentales chez les eleves. Trois niveaux d'analyse sont consideres, les episodes, les sequences et les echanges; ils permettent de degager les activites conduites, le type de questions abordees ainsi que la richesse et la complexite des echanges entre enfants et entre les enfants et la maitresse. Les activites des enfants sont questionnees en regard des activites cognitives attendues dans le cadre de tâches du type « test d'hypothese ».

Efficient Learning for the Poor: Insights from the Frontier of Cognitive Neuroscience

Abstract: This book integrates research into applications that extend from preschool brain development to the memory of adult educators. In layman's terms, it provides explanations and answers to questions such as: Why do children have to read fast before they can understand what they read? How do health, nutrition, and stimulation influence brain development? Why should students learn basic skills in their maternal language? Is there such a thing as an untrained teacher? What signs in a classroom show whether students are getting a quality education? How must information be presented in class so that students can retain it and use it? What training techniques are most likely to help staff put their learning into use? This book is intended for use by policymakers, donor agency staff, teacher trainers, supervisors, and inspectors, as well as university professors and students.

Enhancing Conceptual Change in Preschool Children's Representations of Light: A Sociocognitive Approach

Abstract: The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of a sociocognitive teaching strategy on young children’s understanding of light. It explores their understanding of the concept of light as an entity that is transmitted independently of the light source and the final receiver. The study was conducted in three phases: pretest, teaching intervention, and post-tests. The sample consisted of 170 preschool children who were assigned to two groups. The children in the first group participated in activities which adopted a sociocognitive approach. In the context of this approach, a familiar metaphor was introduced in order to facilitate children to construct a “precursor model” about light. The children in the second group participated in activities with the same teaching objectives, but adopting an empiricist perspective. Statistical analysis using the Mann–Whitney U test indicated that the cognitive progress of the sociocognitive group was more significant than the progress of the empiricist group. This provides evidence for the effect of the sociocognitive strategy on enhancing children in constructing a “precursor model” for the concept of light.

Construction of a Precursor Model for the Concept of Rolling Friction in the Thought of Preschool Age Children: A Socio-cognitive Teaching Intervention

Abstract: The aim of this study was to explore the extent to which the characteristics of two teaching interventions can bring about cognitive progress in preschoolers with regard to the factors rolling friction depends on, when it is applied to an object that is freely rolling on a horizontal surface. The study was conducted in three phases: pre-test, teaching intervention, and post-test. Two teaching strategies were compared: one inspired by Piaget’s theory (Piagetian approach) and one inspired by post-Piagetian and Vygotkian assumptions (socio-cognitive approach). A statistically significant difference was found between the pre-test and post-test, providing evidence that the socio-cognitive approach allows for the creation of a more appropriate teaching framework compared to the Piagetian one.

The Contribution of the Human Body in Young Children’s Explanations About Shadow Formation

Abstract: This paper begins with the view that the generation of meaning is a multimodal process. Props, drawings, graphs, gestures, as well as speech and written text are all mediators through which students construct new knowledge. Each semiotic context makes a unique contribution to the conceptualization of scientific entities. The human body, in particular, can function as a factor in both representation and explanation, serving as a link between verbal discourse and setting. Considering this perspective, a body-based activity was designed for kindergarten children, involving the concept of a shadow. The 3-D arrangement of the light from the light source, the human body (the obstacle), and the resulting shadow plays a central role. Using their own bodies as obstacles to the light, the children were able to explore the direction of the light and to change the relative positions of the light source and the obstacle. They formed hypotheses and were able to test them by moving on the stage. This body-centered activity explicitly incorporates the rectilinear movement of light into the process of shadow formation, while also providing learning through direct experience. Positive effects on learning were achieved for the group of children who participated in the activity, while the video analysis showed that many of the children were able to use their bodies to transfer to a different setting the embodied knowledge they acquired. This, according to researchers in the field of science education, is a powerful indication of conceptual change.

Early childhood science education: state of the art and perspectives

Abstract: The last twenty-five years have seen an increase in the development of an area of educational research and implementation which is known internationally as Early Childhood Science Education. In fact, this is a broad framework within which different theoretical trends coexist with corresponding research orientations and fields of teaching applications. These trends converge in an effort to study the mechanisms of initiation of children aged 4-8 years into the properties of the materials and objects and into the phenomena and concepts of Natural Sciences. When the first relevant efforts began to take shape, valid questions were raised as to whether the systematic approach to Natural Sciences at such an early age was desirable, possible and feasible. • The question of whether it was “desirable” was easily answered, since an overview of all the traditional pedagogical trends highlighted the great importance they attached to the appropriation of the natural world (e.g., Froebel, 1909; Montessori, 1914; Dewey, 1943/1990). Although the type of pedagogical practices they proposed was different, their attachment to the discovery of natural objects and phenomena was unvarying. • Whether it was “possible” was illuminated by research in Genetic, Evolutionary, Developmental and Cognitive Psychology, despite their different starting points and orientations. Strong findings in Psychology research have shown that introducing the natural world to young children is not only possible, but happens regardless of whether we want it to, as they spontaneously begin to build relevant mental representations as early as infancy (Piaget, 1926; Vygotski, 1934/1962). • Within the framework of Science Education there emerged the first research papers that argued that the effective involvement of young children in the learning of Natural Sciences is feasible as a subject of specialized teaching interventions (Fleer, 1996; Ravanis & Bagakis, 1998).