A teaching learning sequence on nanoscience and nanotechnology content at primary school level: evaluation of students’ learning

ABSTRACT

It is widely argued that Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (NST) is going to affect several aspects of our life. Therefore, students need to develop their nanoliteracy to cope with the everyday issues related to NST. Although there is an increasing interest in introducing NST content to primary school students, the theoretical frameworks for interpreting their learning are still an open issue. Τo fill this research gap, this paper presents a Teaching Learning Sequence (TLS) about NST content that focuses on students’ learning from the perspective of the Framework Theory and the Conceptual Change. The TLS is developed in six units, including concepts related to the size of objects, the observation tools, the lotus effect, the applications of NST as well as the models. The participants (N = 60) were 6th grade primary school students. Α questionnaire was used to capture the students’ progress one week and three months after implementing the TLS. The results provided evidence that shows that students’ conceptions were closer to scientific ones after implementing the TLS. Results are discussed in the light of the Framework Theory and the Conceptual Change. Educational implications for teaching and learning NST concepts at the primary school level are also discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Conceptual change
• nanoscience-nanotechnology
• teaching learning sequence

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research is co-financed by Greece and the European Union (European Social Fund – ESF) through the Operational Programme Human Resources Development, Education and Lifelong Learning in the context of the project ‘Strengthening Human Resources Research Potential via Doctorate Research’ (MIS-5000432), implemented by the State Scholarships Foundation (ΙΚΥ).