Precursor Models for Teaching and Learning Science During Early Childhood

This edited volume provides an in-depth exploration of a theoretical framework supporting Early Childhood Science Education research and teaching best practices. Particularly by presenting the concept of the Precursor Model from an epistemological, psychological, and didactical point of view at Early Childhood Science Education. The book examines and discusses the nature of Precursor Models and their use for early science teaching and learning. It scrutinizes different aspects of the construction of such models applied in early childhood education settings and contexts. Several empirical studies are presented within diverse scientific domains, as well as in international educational contexts. By providing a vary of examples of precursor models it makes this book a great companion for teachers aiming to teach children to understand and reason about topics such as: floating and sinking; shadow formation; water state changes; air; clouds and rain; electricity; inheritance andselection; as well as variation within populations. Finally, this volume supports the development of science education from an early age by using the original framework of a precursor model to mediate teaching and learning science at school during early childhood.

Jean-Marie Boilevin is Professor Emeritus in Science Education at the University of Western Brittany (INSPE de Bretagne). Holder of a master's degree in Physics and a PhD in Physics Didactics, he has been a high school physics and chemistry teacher and has been involved in the training of science teachers for more than thirty years. His research focuses on the following main themes: inquiry-based science teaching and learning; professional development of science teachers; the use of the precursor model in science teaching in kindergarten and primary schools; the use and creation of resources by science teachers; the development of student autonomy in science. He teaches regularly at the Virtual University of Tunis and has been a visiting professor at the University of Patras (Greece) and the University of Universidad Nacional Del Centro de la Provincia De Buenos Aires (Argentina). He has also supervised 10 PhD theses and is currently directing 4 of them. Jean-Marie Boilevin is the author of about two hundred publications in scientific journals, collective editions and conference proceedings. He is the author of 2 books and the editor of 10 collective scientific editions. Director of the CREAD-UBO laboratory (2014 to 2019), he was also a member of the Academic Council of the University of Western Brittany and a member of the Scientific Council of the Institute of Human and Social Sciences of Brest during the same period. President of the French-speaking Association for Research in Didactics of Science and Technology (ARDIST) from 2014 to 2018, he is one of the founders of the Mediterranean Network for Research in Science and Technology Education (SIEST Méditerranée).

Alice Delserieys is assistant professor in Science Education at Aix-Marseille University in France and vice-director for research and international collaboration of “Institut National Supérieur du Professorat et de l’Education”. She holds a degree in physics from the University of Strasbourg and a PhD in Physics from Queen’s University of Belfast in the United Kingdom. She has been a primary school teacher in pre-schools and elementary schools and worked at the French Academy of Science as a project manager to promote hands on approach in science classes in primary and early secondary schools with the program La main à la pâte (now a foundation). She conducts research at the laboratory ADEF and is interested in understanding how learning of science takes place, in particular in specific contexts such as preschool and primary school, and how to design learning environments to support the work of teachers and the development of students. Her current research focuses on how student make meaning in various topics of science, in interdisciplinary contexts, using cognitive tools such as precursor models and cultural tools such as drawings, narrative stories or games. She has been visiting professor at the National Institute of Education, Singapore for twoacademic years (2018-2020), the University of Patras (Greece), the University of Hanoi (Vietnam), the Instituto Nacional de Formacion y Capacitation del Magisterio de Republica Dominicana. A. Delserieys is the author of about 60 publications in scientific journals, collective editions and conference proceedings. She has been the supervisor of 2 PhD thesis. In 2016, she was awarded the price Georges Charpak by the French Academy of Science for her involvement in science education research. She is a member of the scientific committee of the Foundation La Main à la pâte. She is a member of the National Council of Universities in Physics since 2016 and she is principal investigator for the project of European Teacher Academy UNI-T (2022-2025).

Konstantinos Ravanis is Professor in Physics Education at the University of Patras in Greece. He did two types of undergraduate studies, in Physics and in Educational Sciences at the University of Patras in Greece, completed his postgraduate studies in Science Education in the Université Paris VII-Denis Diderot and received his PhD degree in Physics Education from the Department of Educational Sciences and Early Childhood Education of the University of Patras. In 1988 K. Ravanis was appointed “Special Scientist”, and then he was elected through at all levels of the academic hierarchy to reach the degree of Professor (2004) in the Department of Educational Sciences and Early Childhood Education of the University of Patras, specializing in “Didactics of Physics”. He was an invited Professor in Université de Provence, Aix-Marseille Université, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, University of Nicosia and he had a research fellowship from the Jean Piaget Archives at the University of Geneva. K. Ravanis is the author of about 230 publications in scientific journals, collective editions and conference proceedings and he has been the supervisor of 14 Ph.D thesis. He is the author of three (4) books and he was the editor of two (2) collective scientific editions. K. Ravanis was director of the Division of Theoretical and Applied Pedagogies (2003-2008) and has been Chairman in the Department of Educational Sciences and Early Childhood Education (1999-2001, 2005-2006), Vice-Rector (2006-2010) and member of the Council Foundation (2014) of the University of Patras.