Science Learning and Graphic Symbols: An Exploration of Early Years Teachers’ Views And Use of Graphic Symbols When Teaching Science

Maria Kambouri; Eliada Pampoulou Salowm; Myria Pieridou; Michael Allen

doi:10.12973/eurasia.2016.1275a

Full Text (PDF)

Maria Kambouri ¹ ^* , Eliada Pampoulou Salowm ², Myria Pieridou ³, Michael Allen ⁴

More Detail

¹ University of Reading² Special Educational Solutions (SE.S), Cyprus³ Open university⁴ Kingston University^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

Background:
The study investigated early years teachers’ understanding and use of graphic symbols, defined as the visual representation(s) used to communicate one or more “linguistic” concepts, which can be used to facilitate science learning.

Material and methods:
The study was conducted in Cyprus where six early years teachers were observed and interviewed.

Results:
The results indicate that the teachers had a good understanding of the role of symbols, but demonstrated a lack of understanding in regards to graphic symbols specifically. None of the teachers employed them in their observed science lesson, although some of them claimed that they did so.

Conclusions:
Findings suggest a gap in participants’ acquaintance with the terminology regarding different types of symbols and a lack of awareness about the use and availability of graphic symbols for the support of learning. There is a need to inform and train early years teachers about graphic symbols and their potential applications for supporting children’s learning.

Keywords

early years education
graphic symbols
inclusive practice
science education
teaching

License

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, 2016, Volume 12, Issue 9, 2399-2417

https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2016.1275a

Publication date: 29 Jun 2016

Article Views: 2271

Article Downloads: 1948

Open Access References How to cite this article

References

Abbott, C. (2000). Symbols Now. Leamington Spa: Widgit Software.
Abbott, C., & Lucey, H. (2005). Symbol Communication in Special Schools in England: The Current Position and Some Key Issues. British Journal of Special Education, 32(4), 196- 201.
Abbott, C., Detheridge, T., & Detheridge, C. (2006). Symbols, Literacy and Social Justice. Leamington: Widgit.
Acha, J. (2009). The Effectiveness of Multimedia Programmes in Children’s Vocabulary Learning. British Journal of Educational Technology, 40, 23–31.
Allen, M. (2014). Misconceptions in Primary Science. (2nd ed.). Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Armstrong, F. (2003). Inclusive Education: Cross-Cultural Perspectives, Spaced Out: Policy, Difference and the Challenge of Inclusive Education. Kluwer Academic Publishers
Armstrong, D., Armstrong, A.C., & Spandagou, I. (2011). Inclusion: by choice or by chance?. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 15(1), 29-39.
Baskerville, R. L., Kaul, M., & Storey, V. C. (2015). Genres of inquiry in design-science research: Justification and evaluation of knowledge production. Mis Quarterly, 39(3), 541-564.
Baumgartner, A. A. (2015). Instruction to augmentative alternative communication (AAC) users in the home and community environment (Doctoral dissertation, California State University, Sacramento).
Bazeley, P., & Jackson, K. (2013). Qualitative Data Analysis with NVivo. Sage Publications
Beukelman, D.R. & Mirenda, P. (2013). Augmentative and Alternative Communication: Supporting children and adults with complex communication needs. (4th ed.). Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.
British Educational Research Association (BERA). (2011). Ethical Guidelines for Educational Research. Retrieved from http://www.bera.ac.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2014/02/BERA-Ethical-Guidelines-2011.pdf.
Bondy, A. S., & Frost, L.A. (1994). The Picture Exchange Communication System. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities 9(3), 1-19.
Callaghan, T. (2000). Factors Affecting Children’s Graphic Symbol Use in the Third Year: Language, Similarity and Iconicity. Cognitive Development 15, 185-214
Charalampous, E. (2012). The Use of Graphic Symbols to Improve the Skill of Questioning at the Age of 3.5 to 5 Years Old. 12th Conference of Cyprus Pedagogical Association – Conference Proceedings. Retrieved from http://www.pek.org.cy/Proceedings_2012/papers/nipiosxoliki/Charalambous.pdf
Chetwynd, J. (2008). Communication with Symbols: From the Web to the Internet and Beyond. Journal of Assistive Technologies, 2(3), 32-36.
Cohen, M., & Kagan, M. (1979). Where does the old moon go? Science Teacher, 46(8), 22-23.
Driver, R., Asoko, H., Leach, J., Mortimer, E., & Scott, P. (1994). Constructing Scientific Knowledge in the Classroom. American Educational Research Association, 23(7), 5-12.
Crosskey, L., & Vance, M. (2011). Training teachers to support pupils’ listening in class: An evaluation using pupil questionnaires. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 27, 165- 182.
Danos, X. (2014). Graphicacy and Culture: Refocusing on Visual Learning. Great Britain: Loughborough Design Press
de Villiers, M. R. (2005). Three approaches as pillars for interpretive Information Systems research: development research, action research and grounded theory. Proceedings of the 2005 annual research conference of the South African institute of computer scientists and information technologists on IT research in developing countries. 142-151.
EECERA. (2014). EECERA Ethical Code for Early Childhood Researchers. Version 1.0. Retrieved from www.eecera.org
Fragkiadaki, G., & Ravanis, K. (2015). Preschool children’s mental representations of clouds. Journal of Baltic Science Education, 14(2), 267-274.
Fristoe, M., & Lloyd, L. L. (1979). Nonspeech Communication. In N. R. Ellis (Eds.), Handbook of mental deficiency: Psychological theory and research. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Fuller, D. R., Lloyd L. L., & Schlosser, R. W. (1992). Further Development of an Augmentative and Alternative Communication Symbol Taxonomy. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 8(1), 67- 74.
Gerring, J. (2007). Case Study Research: Principles and Practises. Cambridge: University Press.
Gillon, R. (1986). Philosophical Medical-Ethics. British Medical Journal, 292, 48 - 49.
Glennen, S., & DeCoste, D. C. (1997). The Handbook of Augmentative and Alternative Communication. San Diego: Singular Pub. Group.
Gomez-Arizaga, M. P., Bahar, A. K., Maker, C. J., Zimmerman, R., & Pease, R. (2015). How Does Science Learning Occur in the Classroom? Students’ Perceptions of Science Instruction During the Implementation of REAPS Model. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science & Technology Education, 12(3), 431-455.
Greenstock, L., & Pampoulou, E. (2010). An introduction to two pieces of recent research in the use of graphic symbols. Journal of Communication Matters, 24(2), 32-35.
Greenstock, .L., & Wright, J. (2011). Collaborative Implementation: Working Together when Using Graphic Symbols. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 27(3), 331-343.
Hall, R. (2008). Applied social research: Planning, designing and conducting real-world research. Macmillan Education AU.
Hanuscin, D. (2001). Misconceptions in Science. Web‐based resource for teachers. Retrieved From: http://www.indiana.edu/~w505a/studwork/deborah/
John, P. S. & Vance, M. (2014). Evaluation of a principled approach to vocabulary learning in mainstream classes. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 30, 255-271.
Johnston, J. (2005). Early Explorations in Science. (2nd ed.). Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Kambouri, M. (2015). Investigating Early Years Teachers’ Understanding and Response to Children’s Preconceptions. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal. 25 (3), DOI: 10.1080/1350293X.2014.970857
Kapalkova, S., Polisenska, K. & Sussova, M. (2015). The role of pictures and gestures as a support mechanism for novel word learning: A training study with 2-year-old children. Child Language Teaching and Therapy.
Kersner, M. & Wright, J. A. (2012). Speech and language therapy: The decision-making process when working with children. Routledge: Taylor Francis Group.
Kim, J-I., & Yoon, H.-G. (2016). Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Beliefs about Nature of Science and Constructivist Teaching in the Content-specific Context. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science & Technology Education, 12(3), 457-475.
Klein, H., & Myers, M. (1999). A Set of Principals for Conducting and Evaluating Interpretive Field Studies in Information Systems. MIS Quarterly. 23(1), 67-94.
Lacey, P., Layton, L., Miller, C., Goldbart, J., & Lawson, H. (2007). What is Literacy for Students with Severe Learning Difficulties? Exploring Conventional and Inclusive Literacy. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 7, 149-160.
Leedy, P. D. & Ormrod, J. E. (2001). Practical Research: Planning and Design. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall.
Lloyd, L.L. & Blischak, D.M. (1992). AAC Terminology Policy and Issues Update. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 8(2), 104-109.
Lloyd, L. L., Fuller, D. R. & Arvidson, H. (1997). (Eds.). Augmentative and alternative communication: A handbook of principles and practices. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Lloyd, L.L. (1985). Comments on terminology. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 1(3), 95-97.
Loizou, E. & Papademetri-Kachrimani, C. (2011). Curriculum for Pre-School Education (original in Greek). Cyprus: Ministry of Education.
Mavrou, K. (2011). Assistive Technology as an Emerging Policy and Practice: Processes, Challenges and Future Directions. Technology and Disability, 23(1), 41-52.
Mavrou, K., Charalampous, E., & Michaelides, M. (2013). Graphic symbols for all: using symbols in developing the ability of questioning in young children. Journal of Assistive Technologies, 7(1), 22-33.
Mayer, R. E. (1997). Multimedia Learning: Are we Asking the Right Questions? Educational Psychology, 32, 1–19.
McArthur, T. (1992). Sign. The Oxford Companion to the English Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ministry of Education and Culture (MoEC). (2008a). Inclusion in the Cyprus Educational System at the Beginning of the Twenty First Century: An Overview. National Report of Cyprus.
Nicosia Ministry of Education and Culture (MoEC). (2008b). Educational Software Secured by ÅÐ 05/08 for Primary Education. Retrieved from www.eepimorfosi.ac.cy/userfiles/ep0508_dimotiki.
Ministry of Education and Culture (MoEC). (2009). Funding for Kindergartens, Primary Schools and Special Education Schools to Equip Special Needs and Speech Therapy Rooms with Educational Material and Software for Children with Special Needs. Retrieved from http://egkyklioi.moec.gov.cy/Data/dde2172a.pdf
Ministry of Education and Culture (MoEC). 2012. Instruction Manual for Sym Writer. Retrieved from http://www.schools.ac.cy/klimakio/logismika/pdf_logismika/symvolografos/symvolo grafos_odigos_chrisis.pdf
Ministry of Education and Culture (MoEC). (2014). Official Website. Retrieved from http://www.moec.gov.cy/dde/index.html
Mirenda, P. (2003). "He's Not Really a Reader [horizontal ellipsis]": Perspectives on Supporting Literacy Development in Individuals with Autism. Topics in Language Disorders, 23(4), 271-282.
Murcia, K. (2012). Integrating digital technologies into the contemporary science classroom. In D. Tan, M. Kim, & S. W. Hwang (Eds), Moving forward: Issues and challenges in science education research (pp. 225-244). Dordrecht, Heidelberg New York, London: Springer.
Murcia, K. (2014). Interactive and multimodal pedagogy: A case study of how teachers and students use interactive whiteboard technology in primary science. Australian Journal of Education, 58, 74-88.
Ntalakoura, V., & Ravanis, K. (2014). Changing preschool children’s representations of light: a scratch based teaching approach. Journal of Baltic Science Education, 13 (2), 191-200.
Pampoulou, E., & Abbott, C. (2013). Visual Timetables. Communication Matters, 27(2), 35-38.
Pampoulou, S. E., & Angelides P. (2012). The Use of Graphic Symbols in Promoting Inclusion in Two Mainstream Primary Schools in Cyprus. (conference proceedings) 8th Panhellenic Conference on Education: Greece.
Pampoulou, E., & Detheridge, C. (2007). The Role of Symbols in the Mainstream to Access Literacy. Journal of Assistive Technologies, 1(1), 15-21.
Pampoulou, S. E. (2013). Using Graphic Symbols to Promote Inclusive Education (presentation), 15th Biennial EARLI Conference: Germany.
Pampoulou, E. (2015). The use of graphic symbols in inclusive primary schools: an exploration of teachers’ and speech and language therapists’ experiences of graphic symbols (Unpublished thesis). King’s College London
Philippou, S., Papademetri-Kachrimani, C., & Louca, L. (2015). The exchange of ideas was mutual, I have to say’: Negotiating researcher and teacher ‘roles’ in an early years educators’ professional development programme on inquiry-based mathematics and science learning. Professional Development in Education, 41(2), 382–400, doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2014.999381
Phtiaka, H. (2007). Educating the Other: A Journey in Cyprus Time and Space, in Barton, L. & Armstrong, F. (Eds.). Policy, Experience and Change, Cross Cultural reflections on Inclusive Education, London: Springer Books.
Pieridou, M. (2013). Special and Inclusive Education in Cyprus: Case Study of a School Unit with regards to the Implementation of the 113(I)/99 Law in Educational Practice, PhD Thesis, University of Cyprus.
Rankin, J. L., Harwood, K., & Mirenda, P. (1994). Influence of Graphic Symbol Use on Reading Comprehension. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 10, 269–281.
Russell, T., & Watt, D. (1992). Primary Space Project Research Report. Evaporation and Condensation. Liverpool: University Press.
Sheehy, K., Rix, J., Fletcher-Campbell, F., Crisp, M. & Harper, A. (2013). Conceptualising inclusive pedagogies: Evidence from international research and the challenge of autistic spectrum disorder. Erdelyi Pszichologiai Szemle (Transylvanian Journal of Psychology, XIV(1).
Silverman, D. (2000). Doing Qualitative Research: A Practical Handbook. London: Sage Publications.
Simpson, M., & Tuson, M. (2003). Using Observations in Small-scale Research: A Beginner's Guide. Glasgow: Scottish Council for Research in Education.
Song, Y., & Carheden, S. (2014). Dual meaning vocabulary (DMV) words in learning chemistry. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 15(2), 128-141.
Symeonidou, S. & Phtiaka, H., (2012). My colleagues wear blinkers... If they were trained, they would understand better’. Reflections on teacher education on inclusion in Cyprus. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, doi: 10.1111/j.1471- 3802.2012.01234.x
UNESCO. (1994). The Salamanca Statements and Framework for Action on Special Needs Education, Paris: UNESCO.
UNESCO. (2009). Policy Guidelines on Inclusion in Education. Paris: UNESCO. Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0017/001778/177849e.pdf.
Venkatagiri H. S. (2002). Clinical Implications of an Augmentative and Alternative Communication Taxonomy. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 18(1), 1-24.
Vislie, L. (2003). From Integration to Inclusion: Focusing Global Trends and Changes in the Western European Societies. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 18 (1), 17-35.
Vrasidas, C., & Glass, G. V. (2006). (Editors). Current Perspectives on Applied Information Technologies: Preparing Teachers to Teach with Technology. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.
Walsham, G., (1995). Interpretive Case Studies in IS Research: Nature and Method. European Journal of Information Systems, 4(2), 74-81.
Wellington, W., & Wellington, J. (2002). Children with Communication Difficulties in Mainstream Science Classrooms. School Science Review, 83(305), 81-92.
Wellington, W. & Stackhouse, J. (2011). Using visual support for language and learning in children with SLCN: A training programme for teachers and teaching assistants. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 27, 183-201.
Widgit Symbols. (2002-2015). Widgit Software (c). Retrieved from www.widgit.com
Wragg, E. C. (1994). An Introduction to Classroom Observation. London: RoutledgeFalmer.
Young, E. (2005). The Language of Science, the Language of Students: Bridging the Gap with Engaged Learning Vocabulary Strategies. Science Activities: Classroom Projects and Curriculum Ideas,42(2), 12-17.

How to cite this article

APA

Kambouri, M., Pampoulou Salowm, E., Pieridou, M., & Allen, M. (2016). Science Learning and Graphic Symbols: An Exploration of Early Years Teachers’ Views And Use of Graphic Symbols When Teaching Science. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 12(9), 2399-2417. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2016.1275a

Vancouver

Kambouri M, Pampoulou Salowm E, Pieridou M, Allen M. Science Learning and Graphic Symbols: An Exploration of Early Years Teachers’ Views And Use of Graphic Symbols When Teaching Science. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2016;12(9):2399-417. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2016.1275a

AMA

Kambouri M, Pampoulou Salowm E, Pieridou M, Allen M. Science Learning and Graphic Symbols: An Exploration of Early Years Teachers’ Views And Use of Graphic Symbols When Teaching Science. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2016;12(9), 2399-2417. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2016.1275a

Chicago

Kambouri, Maria, Eliada Pampoulou Salowm, Myria Pieridou, and Michael Allen. "Science Learning and Graphic Symbols: An Exploration of Early Years Teachers’ Views And Use of Graphic Symbols When Teaching Science". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education 2016 12 no. 9 (2016): 2399-2417. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2016.1275a

Harvard

Kambouri, M., Pampoulou Salowm, E., Pieridou, M., and Allen, M. (2016). Science Learning and Graphic Symbols: An Exploration of Early Years Teachers’ Views And Use of Graphic Symbols When Teaching Science. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 12(9), pp. 2399-2417. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2016.1275a

MLA

Kambouri, Maria et al. "Science Learning and Graphic Symbols: An Exploration of Early Years Teachers’ Views And Use of Graphic Symbols When Teaching Science". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 12, no. 9, 2016, pp. 2399-2417. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2016.1275a