The Development and Evaluation of an Early Childhood Science Education Guide of Using Children's Books for Nursery and Kindergarten Teachers

• Project/Area Number: 15K12382
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Science education
• Research Institution: Kobe University
• Principal Investigator: NOGAMI TOMOYUKI 神戸大学, 本部, 名誉教授 (80127688)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 北野 幸子 神戸大学, 人間発達環境学研究科, 准教授 (90309667) ; 楠 房子 多摩美術大学, 美術学部, 教授 (40192025) ; 稲垣 成哲 神戸大学, 人間発達環境学研究科, 教授 (70176387) ; 山口 悦司 神戸大学, 人間発達環境学研究科, 准教授 (00324898)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2016)
• Budget Amount: ¥3,640,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥840,000); Fiscal Year 2016: ¥1,950,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥450,000); Fiscal Year 2015: ¥1,690,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥390,000)
• Keywords: 科学教育 / 科学教員養成 / 保育園・幼稚園・認定こども園 / 科学絵本

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study develops an early childhood science education guide for using children's books and evaluates its effectiveness in supporting nursery and kindergarten teachers to design and implement science learning activities. The results of this study are summarized as the following two points: (1) by integrating cutting-edge research findings on early childhood education, design science, and science education research, we were able to develop some general principles for selecting children's books that match the objectives and content of early childhood science education, pedagogical techniques for using children's books, and best practices of early childhood science education using children's books; and (2) we introduced the guide in nurseries, kindergartens, and certified centers for early childhood education and care for in-service teacher training and were able to empirically examine its possible effects.

Research Products

• [Journal Article] The effectiveness of the Observation Guide application in supporting children’s scientific observations in the zoo (2016)
  • Author(s): Tanaka, Y., Egusa, R., Yamaguchi, E., Inagaki, S., Kusunoki, F., Okuyama, H., & Nogami, T.
  • Journal Title: Proceedings of Global Learn 2016 Volume: - Pages: 305-309
  • Peer Reviewed / Acknowledgement Compliant
• [Presentation] Comparative study on playful learning of science during free play time: Focusing on coloured water play (2015)
  • Author(s): Sachiko Kitano
  • Organizer: Pacific Early Childhood Education Research Association (PECERA) 2015 Conference
  • Place of Presentation: Macquarie University, NSW, Australia
  • Year and Date: 2015-07-24
  • Int'l Joint Research