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ABS085 - Play as purposeful activity for learning academic content in the science through technology-enhanced play (STEP) environment

Theme:
2.7 Other topics related to Theme 2
What:
Paper
When:
3:50 PM, Thursday 31 Aug 2017 (20 minutes)
Where:
How:
Increased accountability measures initiated in the United States in 2001 by the No Child Left Behind Act pressure teachers to focus on academic skills. As a result, didactic approaches have prevailed as the presence of play in schools has declined (Bassok, Lathan, & Rorem, 2016). Given the constraints teachers face, some have suggested integrating play into curricula (Nicolopoulou, Barbosa de Sa, Ilgaz, & Brockmeyer, 2009) because play is a lifelong activity that spans development (Perone & Gönchü, 2014). In this paper we present a way of integrating play and science content (complex systems of honey bee pollination) through our Science through Technology-Enhanced Play (STEP) project, an Augmented Reality environment using motion-tracking technology to support children in play as a form of modeling and inquiry.
The STEP environment aligns with the concept of a “playworld” (Lindqvist, 1995; Marjanovic-Shane et al., 2011), where teachers and students co-create their learning space using imagination and dialogue. In previous work we argued that students have opportunities to develop an understanding of science by testing ideas through play (DeLiema et al., 2016). Here we examine how teacher roles change as they use play as a tool to mediate, develop, and support learning. As evidenced by quantitative learning gains, we argue the qualitative experience co-constructed by teachers and students supports student learning. We demonstrate ways teachers can accomplish academic learning goals without forfeiting playful learning opportunities by integrating play with science and thereby providing opportunities for students and teachers to co-construct learning pathways through playful inquiry.

 
Participant
Indiana University
Associate Professor
Participant
Indiana University, Los Angeles
Participant
University of California, Los Angeles
Participant
University of California
Participant
University of California
Participant
University of California, Berkeley
Participant
Indiana University
Participant
University of California, Los Angeles
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