Dr. Eirini Gkouskou | UCL Institute of Education (original) (raw)
Papers by Dr. Eirini Gkouskou
Children begin formal school already having experienced some everyday science in their lives. In ... more Children begin formal school already having experienced some everyday science in their lives. In countries such as England, many children attend preschool from 3 years of age. Increasingly, places for families offer sessions for an adult and child aged 2 years old to 'Stay and Play' (Lloyd et al. 2016) where the activities offer science learning experiences. If you observe young children at play, they are purposeful in their 'work'. They investigate, ask themselves questions and try out strategies, apparently to 'see what happens' and they try to explain what they observe in their own terms from their existing knowledge. Psychologists assert that aspects of science are learnt in different domains; one for biology and one for physical science. Moreover, the ideas of a child about what scientists identify as physical science are different from those of scientists, hence being children's science (Hadzigeorgiou 2015). Children of different ages, and thus different stages of cognitive understanding, interpret phenomena differently. Their 'common sense' ideas are modified as they acquire new experiences and make their own observations. Additionally, they integrate information and explanations, received from a variety of sources such as teachers, into their mental model. Driver et al. (1985) suggested that the claims of young science learners are similar to those
This work is part of a wider research on the design and the evaluation of a teaching intervention... more This work is part of a wider research on the design and the evaluation of a teaching intervention that is aimed at children of preschool age with the cooperation of school and museum of zoology. This paper refers to the general principles of the proposed teaching intervention. These principles are referring to (a) the structure and content of school knowledge on the subject, (b) the constructive approach of teaching and learning of science in early childhood education and (c) the museological conception on the teaching effectiveness of programs when they are carried out with the cooperation of school and museum environment. In this study will be described the content of those three principles together with the objectives, structure and content of teaching activities that can be implemented mainly in the zoological museum
European Journal of Education Studies, Jan 12, 2021
This study presents a tool for description and potential analysis of the educational role of the ... more This study presents a tool for description and potential analysis of the educational role of the Science and Technology museum. This tool has been constructed from the point of view of formal education and it is proposed as a framework for the approach of the science/technology museum from the teachers and education administrators. More specifically, the tool is, at first, described in terms of structure, content and functionality and, afterwards, examples are provided for cases of international, national and local natural history museums (Natural History Museum in Paris, Goulandris Natural History Museum in Athens and University of Patras Zoology Museum accordingly). Finally, there is a discussion regarding the suitability of this tool to inform, instruct and train future and in-service teachers in aspects of museum education.
The aim of this research study is to present the goals, the content and some evaluation elements ... more The aim of this research study is to present the goals, the content and some evaluation elements of a teaching intervention for preschool children concerning animal categorization. The intervention combines typical and non typical educational characteristics and takes place both in the school class and in a zoological museum. More specifically, we will present the cognitive objectives of the intervention which are the following: (a) the familiarization of children with various samples of animals, (b) the movement of children's ideas from using anthropomorphic or functional criteria to the use of morphological criteria for classification of animal samples, (c) the identification of new samples of animals with one of the constructed categories of animals and (d) the creation of a new class of animals in case of the animal sample does not fit in any of the constructed categories. In this study we will focus on the characteristics of teaching activities which take place during the visit to the zoological museum at the University of Patras. Some preliminary results which support the hypothesis that the museum educational activities have a positive impact on the fulfillment of the mentioned didactical objectives will be presented.
Play and STEM Education in the Early Years
Natural History Dioramas – Traditional Exhibits for Current Educational Themes, 2018
European Journal of Education Studies, 2021
This study presents a tool for description and potential analysis of the educational role of the ... more This study presents a tool for description and potential analysis of the educational role of the Science and Technology museum. This tool has been constructed from the point of view of formal education and it is proposed as a framework for the approach of the science/technology museum from the teachers and education administrators. More specifically, the tool is, at first, described in terms of structure, content and functionality and, afterwards, examples are provided for cases of international, national and local natural history museums (Natural History Museum in Paris, Goulandris Natural History Museum in Athens and University of Patras Zoology Museum accordingly). Finally, there is a discussion regarding the suitability of this tool to inform, instruct and train future and in-service teachers in aspects of museum education. Article visualizations:
Natural History Dioramas – Traditional Exhibits for Current Educational Themes, 2018
Children begin formal school already having experienced some everyday science in their lives. In ... more Children begin formal school already having experienced some everyday science in their lives. In countries such as England, many children attend preschool from 3 years of age. Increasingly, places for families offer sessions for an adult and child aged 2 years old to 'Stay and Play' (Lloyd et al. 2016) where the activities offer science learning experiences. If you observe young children at play, they are purposeful in their 'work'. They investigate, ask themselves questions and try out strategies, apparently to 'see what happens' and they try to explain what they observe in their own terms from their existing knowledge. Psychologists assert that aspects of science are learnt in different domains; one for biology and one for physical science. Moreover, the ideas of a child about what scientists identify as physical science are different from those of scientists, hence being children's science (Hadzigeorgiou 2015). Children of different ages, and thus different stages of cognitive understanding, interpret phenomena differently. Their 'common sense' ideas are modified as they acquire new experiences and make their own observations. Additionally, they integrate information and explanations, received from a variety of sources such as teachers, into their mental model. Driver et al. (1985) suggested that the claims of young science learners are similar to those
KEY WORDS: natural history diorama; historical-experimental science; inquiry based science; conte... more KEY WORDS: natural history diorama; historical-experimental science; inquiry based science; context based learning
COLLOQUE SIEST …, 2012
This work is part of a wider research on the design and the evaluation of a teaching intervention... more This work is part of a wider research on the design and the evaluation of a teaching intervention that is aimed at children of preschool age with the cooperation of school and museum of zoology. This paper refers to the general principles of the proposed teaching intervention. These principles are referring to (a) the structure and content of school knowledge on the subject, (b) the constructive approach of teaching and learning of science in early childhood education and (c) the museological conception on the teaching effectiveness of programs when they are carried out with the cooperation of school and museum environment. In this study will be described the content of those three principles together with the objectives, structure and content of teaching activities that can be implemented mainly in the zoological museum
The aim of this research study is to present the goals, the content and some evaluation elements ... more The aim of this research study is to present the goals, the content and some evaluation elements of a teaching intervention for preschool children concerning animal categorization. The intervention combines typical and non typical educational characteristics and takes place both in the school class and in a zoological museum. More specifically, we will present the cognitive objectives of the intervention which are the following: (a) the familiarization of children with various samples of animals, (b) the movement of children’s ideas from using anthropomorphic or functional criteria to the use of morphological criteria for classification of animal samples, (c) the identification of new samples of animals with one of the constructed categories of animals and (d) the creation of a new class of animals in case of the animal sample does not fit in any of the constructed categories. In this study we will focus on the characteristics of teaching activities which take place during the visit...
This work is part of a wider research on the design and the evaluation of a teaching intervention... more This work is part of a wider research on the design and the evaluation of a teaching intervention that is aimed at children of preschool age with the cooperation of school and museum of zoology. This paper refers to the general principles of the proposed teaching intervention. These principles are referring to (a) the structure and content of school knowledge on the subject, (b) the constructive approach of teaching and learning of science in early childhood education and (c) the museological conception on the teaching effectiveness of programs when they are carried out with the cooperation of school and museum environment. In this study will be described the content of those three principles together with the objectives, structure and content of teaching activities that can be implemented mainly in the zoological museum
Τhe nature of scientific research goes beyond the learning of concepts and basic manipulation to ... more Τhe nature of scientific research goes beyond the learning of concepts and basic manipulation to the key factors of engaging families in identifying relevant evidence and reflecting on their interpretation. School is not the only source for science learning (Bell et al., 2009). A visit to a Natural History museum and the conversations that take place are social but also include learning conversations. The learning conversations that take place at the museum consist of formal and informal learning (Lucas, et al., 1986). Visiting a museum of Natural History is an educational experience, which offers families experiences that cannot be obtained within the formal education environment. Tunnicliffe (2000) and Ash (2003) found that museums are excellent sources of cognitive experiences. When families visit informal setting such as natural history museums, the occasion provides the members of the family with the opportunity to expand their own and their community’s existing knowledge or po...
Traditional view of science museums is that they present a static image of science, a fixed body.... more Traditional view of science museums is that they present a static image of science, a fixed body. Visitors to museums come with pre-existing knowledge and frequently interpret that which they see but particular through using their Owen understanding referring to the labels and other interpretative means not only through the information provided by get museums. Such understanding is based on everyday beliefs. Listening to visitors in natural history museums reveals that few comments are made about science in action but focus on identifying the specimens and commenting on the attributes of the animals. However, physical science is much in evident in these animals although not focused on by natural histoiry museums. I report here the effects of a hands on workshop provided for two 11 year old boys and separately to 8 year old primary children at natural history museums in the south of England. The specimens are displayed don an authentic context in natural history dioramas. The two dio...
Science education international, 2017
Τhe nature of scientific research goes beyond the learning of concepts and basic manipulation to ... more Τhe nature of scientific research goes beyond the learning of concepts and basic manipulation to the key factors of engaging students in identifying relevant evidence and reflecting on its interpretation. It is argued that young children have the ability to acquire viable realistic concepts of the living world when involved in relevant activities (Tunnicliffe, 2000). Visiting a museum of natural history is an educational experience, which offers, children experiences that cannot be obtained within the classroom and research found that museums are excellent sources of cognitive experiences that complement and / or enrich the curriculum of formal education (Dillon et al., 2016). Dioramas have specific context, which give visitors the opportunity to be creative and have more learning opportunities when they engage with them (Achiam et al., 2014). This paper draws upon data that were gathered at a natural history museum. These data were the spontaneous conversations of child visitors an...
This work is part of a wider research on the design and the evaluation of a teaching intervention... more This work is part of a wider research on the design and the evaluation of a teaching intervention that is aimed at children of preschool age with the cooperation of school and museum of zoology. This paper refers to the general principles of the proposed teaching intervention. These principles are referring to (a) the structure and content of school knowledge on the subject, (b) the constructive approach of teaching and learning of science in early childhood education and (c) the museological conception on the teaching effectiveness of programs when they are carried out with the cooperation of school and museum environment. In this study will be described the content of those three principles together with the objectives, structure and content of teaching activities that can be implemented mainly in the zoological museum
Children begin formal school already having experienced some everyday science in their lives. In ... more Children begin formal school already having experienced some everyday science in their lives. In countries such as England, many children attend preschool from 3 years of age. Increasingly, places for families offer sessions for an adult and child aged 2 years old to 'Stay and Play' (Lloyd et al. 2016) where the activities offer science learning experiences. If you observe young children at play, they are purposeful in their 'work'. They investigate, ask themselves questions and try out strategies, apparently to 'see what happens' and they try to explain what they observe in their own terms from their existing knowledge. Psychologists assert that aspects of science are learnt in different domains; one for biology and one for physical science. Moreover, the ideas of a child about what scientists identify as physical science are different from those of scientists, hence being children's science (Hadzigeorgiou 2015). Children of different ages, and thus different stages of cognitive understanding, interpret phenomena differently. Their 'common sense' ideas are modified as they acquire new experiences and make their own observations. Additionally, they integrate information and explanations, received from a variety of sources such as teachers, into their mental model. Driver et al. (1985) suggested that the claims of young science learners are similar to those
This work is part of a wider research on the design and the evaluation of a teaching intervention... more This work is part of a wider research on the design and the evaluation of a teaching intervention that is aimed at children of preschool age with the cooperation of school and museum of zoology. This paper refers to the general principles of the proposed teaching intervention. These principles are referring to (a) the structure and content of school knowledge on the subject, (b) the constructive approach of teaching and learning of science in early childhood education and (c) the museological conception on the teaching effectiveness of programs when they are carried out with the cooperation of school and museum environment. In this study will be described the content of those three principles together with the objectives, structure and content of teaching activities that can be implemented mainly in the zoological museum
European Journal of Education Studies, Jan 12, 2021
This study presents a tool for description and potential analysis of the educational role of the ... more This study presents a tool for description and potential analysis of the educational role of the Science and Technology museum. This tool has been constructed from the point of view of formal education and it is proposed as a framework for the approach of the science/technology museum from the teachers and education administrators. More specifically, the tool is, at first, described in terms of structure, content and functionality and, afterwards, examples are provided for cases of international, national and local natural history museums (Natural History Museum in Paris, Goulandris Natural History Museum in Athens and University of Patras Zoology Museum accordingly). Finally, there is a discussion regarding the suitability of this tool to inform, instruct and train future and in-service teachers in aspects of museum education.
The aim of this research study is to present the goals, the content and some evaluation elements ... more The aim of this research study is to present the goals, the content and some evaluation elements of a teaching intervention for preschool children concerning animal categorization. The intervention combines typical and non typical educational characteristics and takes place both in the school class and in a zoological museum. More specifically, we will present the cognitive objectives of the intervention which are the following: (a) the familiarization of children with various samples of animals, (b) the movement of children's ideas from using anthropomorphic or functional criteria to the use of morphological criteria for classification of animal samples, (c) the identification of new samples of animals with one of the constructed categories of animals and (d) the creation of a new class of animals in case of the animal sample does not fit in any of the constructed categories. In this study we will focus on the characteristics of teaching activities which take place during the visit to the zoological museum at the University of Patras. Some preliminary results which support the hypothesis that the museum educational activities have a positive impact on the fulfillment of the mentioned didactical objectives will be presented.
Play and STEM Education in the Early Years
Natural History Dioramas – Traditional Exhibits for Current Educational Themes, 2018
European Journal of Education Studies, 2021
This study presents a tool for description and potential analysis of the educational role of the ... more This study presents a tool for description and potential analysis of the educational role of the Science and Technology museum. This tool has been constructed from the point of view of formal education and it is proposed as a framework for the approach of the science/technology museum from the teachers and education administrators. More specifically, the tool is, at first, described in terms of structure, content and functionality and, afterwards, examples are provided for cases of international, national and local natural history museums (Natural History Museum in Paris, Goulandris Natural History Museum in Athens and University of Patras Zoology Museum accordingly). Finally, there is a discussion regarding the suitability of this tool to inform, instruct and train future and in-service teachers in aspects of museum education. Article visualizations:
Natural History Dioramas – Traditional Exhibits for Current Educational Themes, 2018
Children begin formal school already having experienced some everyday science in their lives. In ... more Children begin formal school already having experienced some everyday science in their lives. In countries such as England, many children attend preschool from 3 years of age. Increasingly, places for families offer sessions for an adult and child aged 2 years old to 'Stay and Play' (Lloyd et al. 2016) where the activities offer science learning experiences. If you observe young children at play, they are purposeful in their 'work'. They investigate, ask themselves questions and try out strategies, apparently to 'see what happens' and they try to explain what they observe in their own terms from their existing knowledge. Psychologists assert that aspects of science are learnt in different domains; one for biology and one for physical science. Moreover, the ideas of a child about what scientists identify as physical science are different from those of scientists, hence being children's science (Hadzigeorgiou 2015). Children of different ages, and thus different stages of cognitive understanding, interpret phenomena differently. Their 'common sense' ideas are modified as they acquire new experiences and make their own observations. Additionally, they integrate information and explanations, received from a variety of sources such as teachers, into their mental model. Driver et al. (1985) suggested that the claims of young science learners are similar to those
KEY WORDS: natural history diorama; historical-experimental science; inquiry based science; conte... more KEY WORDS: natural history diorama; historical-experimental science; inquiry based science; context based learning
COLLOQUE SIEST …, 2012
This work is part of a wider research on the design and the evaluation of a teaching intervention... more This work is part of a wider research on the design and the evaluation of a teaching intervention that is aimed at children of preschool age with the cooperation of school and museum of zoology. This paper refers to the general principles of the proposed teaching intervention. These principles are referring to (a) the structure and content of school knowledge on the subject, (b) the constructive approach of teaching and learning of science in early childhood education and (c) the museological conception on the teaching effectiveness of programs when they are carried out with the cooperation of school and museum environment. In this study will be described the content of those three principles together with the objectives, structure and content of teaching activities that can be implemented mainly in the zoological museum
The aim of this research study is to present the goals, the content and some evaluation elements ... more The aim of this research study is to present the goals, the content and some evaluation elements of a teaching intervention for preschool children concerning animal categorization. The intervention combines typical and non typical educational characteristics and takes place both in the school class and in a zoological museum. More specifically, we will present the cognitive objectives of the intervention which are the following: (a) the familiarization of children with various samples of animals, (b) the movement of children’s ideas from using anthropomorphic or functional criteria to the use of morphological criteria for classification of animal samples, (c) the identification of new samples of animals with one of the constructed categories of animals and (d) the creation of a new class of animals in case of the animal sample does not fit in any of the constructed categories. In this study we will focus on the characteristics of teaching activities which take place during the visit...
This work is part of a wider research on the design and the evaluation of a teaching intervention... more This work is part of a wider research on the design and the evaluation of a teaching intervention that is aimed at children of preschool age with the cooperation of school and museum of zoology. This paper refers to the general principles of the proposed teaching intervention. These principles are referring to (a) the structure and content of school knowledge on the subject, (b) the constructive approach of teaching and learning of science in early childhood education and (c) the museological conception on the teaching effectiveness of programs when they are carried out with the cooperation of school and museum environment. In this study will be described the content of those three principles together with the objectives, structure and content of teaching activities that can be implemented mainly in the zoological museum
Τhe nature of scientific research goes beyond the learning of concepts and basic manipulation to ... more Τhe nature of scientific research goes beyond the learning of concepts and basic manipulation to the key factors of engaging families in identifying relevant evidence and reflecting on their interpretation. School is not the only source for science learning (Bell et al., 2009). A visit to a Natural History museum and the conversations that take place are social but also include learning conversations. The learning conversations that take place at the museum consist of formal and informal learning (Lucas, et al., 1986). Visiting a museum of Natural History is an educational experience, which offers families experiences that cannot be obtained within the formal education environment. Tunnicliffe (2000) and Ash (2003) found that museums are excellent sources of cognitive experiences. When families visit informal setting such as natural history museums, the occasion provides the members of the family with the opportunity to expand their own and their community’s existing knowledge or po...
Traditional view of science museums is that they present a static image of science, a fixed body.... more Traditional view of science museums is that they present a static image of science, a fixed body. Visitors to museums come with pre-existing knowledge and frequently interpret that which they see but particular through using their Owen understanding referring to the labels and other interpretative means not only through the information provided by get museums. Such understanding is based on everyday beliefs. Listening to visitors in natural history museums reveals that few comments are made about science in action but focus on identifying the specimens and commenting on the attributes of the animals. However, physical science is much in evident in these animals although not focused on by natural histoiry museums. I report here the effects of a hands on workshop provided for two 11 year old boys and separately to 8 year old primary children at natural history museums in the south of England. The specimens are displayed don an authentic context in natural history dioramas. The two dio...
Science education international, 2017
Τhe nature of scientific research goes beyond the learning of concepts and basic manipulation to ... more Τhe nature of scientific research goes beyond the learning of concepts and basic manipulation to the key factors of engaging students in identifying relevant evidence and reflecting on its interpretation. It is argued that young children have the ability to acquire viable realistic concepts of the living world when involved in relevant activities (Tunnicliffe, 2000). Visiting a museum of natural history is an educational experience, which offers, children experiences that cannot be obtained within the classroom and research found that museums are excellent sources of cognitive experiences that complement and / or enrich the curriculum of formal education (Dillon et al., 2016). Dioramas have specific context, which give visitors the opportunity to be creative and have more learning opportunities when they engage with them (Achiam et al., 2014). This paper draws upon data that were gathered at a natural history museum. These data were the spontaneous conversations of child visitors an...
This work is part of a wider research on the design and the evaluation of a teaching intervention... more This work is part of a wider research on the design and the evaluation of a teaching intervention that is aimed at children of preschool age with the cooperation of school and museum of zoology. This paper refers to the general principles of the proposed teaching intervention. These principles are referring to (a) the structure and content of school knowledge on the subject, (b) the constructive approach of teaching and learning of science in early childhood education and (c) the museological conception on the teaching effectiveness of programs when they are carried out with the cooperation of school and museum environment. In this study will be described the content of those three principles together with the objectives, structure and content of teaching activities that can be implemented mainly in the zoological museum
Στην παρούσα εργασία παρουσιάζεται ένα εργαλείο μακροσκοπικής περιγραφής και εν δυνάμει ανάλυσης ... more Στην παρούσα εργασία παρουσιάζεται ένα εργαλείο μακροσκοπικής περιγραφής και εν δυνάμει ανάλυσης του εκπαιδευτικού ρόλου του μουσείου φυσικών επιστημών / τεχνολογίας. Το εργαλείο αυτό έχει κατασκευαστεί υπό το πρίσμα των επιδιώξεων της σχολικής τυπικής εκπαίδευσης και προτείνεται ως πλαίσιο προσέγγισης του μουσείου φυσικών επιστημών / τεχνολογίας από τους εκπαιδευτικούς και άλλα στελέχη της. Πιο συγκεκριμένα, περιγράφονται η δομή, το περιεχόμενο και η λειτουργικές δυνατότητες του συγκεκριμένου εργαλείου ενώ, στη συνέχεια, δίδονται παραδείγματα εφαρμογής του σε δείγματα μουσείων φυσικής ιστορίας παγκοσμίου (Μουσείο Φυσικής Ιστορίας Παρισίων), εθνικής (Μουσείο Γουλανδρή Φυσικής Ιστορίας) και τοπικής (Ζωολογικό Μουσείο Παν/μίου Πατρών) εμβέλειας. Τέλος, συζητείται η καταλληλότητα του εργαλείου για την πληροφόρηση, εκπαίδευση και επιμόρφωση μελλοντικών και εν ενεργεία εκπαιδευτικών σε θέματα μουσειακής εκπαίδευσης.