3Hs Education: Examining hands-on,heads-on and hearts-on early childhood science education |
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| Authors: | Hatice Zeynep Inan Taskin Inan |
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| Institution: | 1. Egitim Fakultesi, The Dumlupinar University, Kutahya, Turkeyhaticezeynep@hotmail.com;3. Guzel Sanatlar Fakultesi, The Dumlupinar University, Kutahya, Turkey |
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| Abstract: | Active engagement has become the focus of many early childhood science education curricula and standards. However, active engagement usually emphasizes getting children engaged with science solely through hands-on activities. Active engagement by way of hands, heads, and hearts are kept separate and rarely discussed in terms of getting all to work together, although inquiry-based education and student interest have been accepted as important in science education. The current study is an inquiry-based research. It aims to describe and examine projects and activity stations for preschoolers in a Turkish preschool classroom bringing together the pieces of the puzzle of science education, called here ‘Hands–Heads–Hearts-on Science Education'. The study, conducted from a qualitative-interpretivist paradigm, reveals that activity stations and projects create a context for hands-on (active engagement), heads-on (inquiry based or mental-engagement), and hearts-on (interest based) science education. It is found that activity stations and projects, when maintained by appropriate teacher-support, create a playful context in which children can be actively and happily engaged in science-related inquiry. |
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| Keywords: | Hands-on (active engagement) Heads-on (inquiry based) Hearts-on (interest based) Science Early childhood education |
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