Abstract

The paper presents a comparison of different approaches for teaching magnetic attraction to preschool children. Three nursery school classes were involved in the study, two of which served as experimental groups (Experimental Group 1, N1=24 and Experimental Group 2, N2=25) and one as control group (N3=24). In Experimental Group 1 a socio-cognitive perspective was promoted, putting an emphasis on children’s alternative conceptions about magnets and magnetic forces as well as on their collaborative experimentation and their interactions within the groups and with their teacher. The intervention implemented in Experimental Group 2 also took into consideration children’s conceptions and combined specifically designed activities using storytelling, hands-on experiments, and drama. A traditional approach was adopted in the Control Group. The three approaches were evaluated on the basis of pre- and post-tests in order to estimate the evolution of children’s conceptions about magnetic forces. The results indicate that the traditional approach used in the Control Group had no significant impact on children’s understanding of magnetic attraction. On the other hand, the two experimental interventions lead to substantial improvements in preschoolers’ thinking. Moreover, interesting conclusions can be drawn from the comparison of the two experimental settings.