Using variation theory to analyze what preschool children experience exemplified by wholes and parts as the object of learning

• Preschool children's learning is the subject of this study. Three children aged 4, 5 and 6 participated. The data consists of individual interviews with the children before and after the intervention and a videotaped intervention. Our results show that children seem to see a whole as something that is not cut into pieces, no matter what i looks like. They do not necessarily refer to the whole when they see a half, nor do they imagine the halves or quarters in a whole that is not cut into pieces. On the other hand, if they see halves they do not have any difficulty putting them together into a whole, but this happens when they can see the material in front of them. The results reveal some interesting findings, pointing at the natural flexibility small children have in discerning a half in relation to a whole insteac of in relation to a representation (like a full circle). On the other hand - the children show difficulties in seeing what parts a whole can be divided into. This is the other way around, as children in higher grades with a view of the circle as the correct representation of a whole, which sometimes makes it hard to manage problem solving at higher grades where flexibility in how to understand proportions is needed.

Ämnesord

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences -- Pedagogy (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap -- Pedagogik (hsv//swe)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

variation theory

preschool

learning study

mathematical concepts

Education

Pedagogik

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