Children as Mediators of Their Own Cognitive Development: The Case of Learning Science in Kindergarten and First Grade

Autor/inn/en	Byrnes, James P.; Miller-Cotto, Dana; Wang, Aubrey H.
Titel	Children as Mediators of Their Own Cognitive Development: The Case of Learning Science in Kindergarten and First Grade
Quelle	In: Journal of Cognition and Development, 19 (2018) 3, S.248-277 (30 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1524-8372
DOI	10.1080/15248372.2018.1470975
Schlagwörter	Cognitive Development; Grade 1; Elementary School Students; Kindergarten; Science Instruction; Science Achievement; Achievement Gap; Structural Equation Models; Short Term Memory; Goodness of Fit; Longitudinal Studies; Student Motivation; Multivariate Analysis; Educational Policy; Learning Processes; Expertise; Prior Learning; English Language Learners; Socioeconomic Status; Learning Motivation; Comparative Analysis; Children; Surveys; Statistical Analysis; Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Kognitive Entwicklung; School year 01; 1. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 01; Teaching of science; Science education; Natural sciences Lessons; Naturwissenschaftlicher Unterricht; Kurzzeitgedächtnis; Longitudinal study; Longitudinal method; Longitudinal methods; Längsschnittuntersuchung; Schulische Motivation; Multivariate Analyse; Politics of education; Bildungspolitik; Learning process; Lernprozess; Expert appraisal; Vorkenntnisse; Socio-economic status; Sozioökonomischer Status; Motivation for studies; Lernmotivation; Child; Kind; Kinder; Survey; Umfrage; Befragung; Statistische Analyse
Abstract	As the United States experiences greater income inequality, more and more students experience an early science achievement gap. This study tested several competing theoretical models of early science achievement with a longitudinal sample of 14,624 children who were followed from kindergarten entry to the end of 1st grade. To understand why and when differences emerge among children, we adopted a theoretical approach to study early science achievement because theories, if they are accurate, appeal to the factors responsible for achievement differences. Results from a structural equation modeling analysis revealed a mediation-only model provided an excellent fit to the data that was minimally changed when some of the indirect pathways were dropped and several direct pathways were added. This finding suggests that children who are more advanced in their understanding of science topics, have more expertise, or have more working-memory capacity are likely to process the same classroom material more effectively and completely than their classmates who have a less advanced understanding, less expertise, or less working-memory capacity. From a theoretical perspective, these findings provide strong support for individual theories of conceptual knowledge, expertise, working memory, and motivational development, and they also demonstrate the value of a large-scale, longitudinal, and multivariate approach for understanding science achievement. Implications for developmental theory and educational policy are discussed. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01