Assessing the Science Learning Assessment (SLA) Instrument in Greek Early Childhood Education Using the Item Response Theory Framework

Vasilis Grammatikopoulos,Athanasios Gregoriadis,Nikolaos Tsigilis

doi:10.3389/feduc.2019.00123

Abstract

Studies revealed that science learning in early childhood is associated with primary and secondary school readiness, improved causal reasoning, increased interest in science in later life, and with long-term effects on academic achievement. Thus, having valid and reliable instruments to assess children’s science learning becomes critical in early childhood education (ECE). The main goal of the current study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Greek version of the Science Learning Assessment (SLA), an instrument developed in the USA to assess science learning in ECE. Randomly selected from 53 preschool units in Greece, 528 children were administered with the Greek version of the SLA. Advanced statistical methods (CFA, IRT framework) were employed to analyse the data and the results showed that the Greek version of the SLA displayed acceptable psychometric properties. Therefore, it can be argued that the Greek version of the SLA is a valid and reliable scale for assessing children’s science knowledge in ECE, capturing universal concepts of science knowledge children in early childhood.

Highlights

Science learning is a very important subject in education, and it is anticipated that future demand for science knowledge will increase due to emerging challenges in the fields of feeding, growing population, spread of diseases, water supply, climate change etc
In contrast with the Piagetian perspective that children in early childhood have limited skills of learning science due to developmental limitations, it is widely acknowledged that science learning holds a critical position in early childhood education (ECE) as children are very competent in capturing complex ideas from early years (Metz, 2004; Akerson et al, 2015; Clements and Sarama, 2016)
Studies argued that the lack of valid and reliable instruments hinders the efforts of integrating science learning and instruction in ECE (Brenneman, 2011; Kloos et al, 2012; Zucker et al, 2016)

Summary

Introduction

Science learning is a very important subject in education, and it is anticipated that future demand for science knowledge will increase due to emerging challenges in the fields of feeding, growing population, spread of diseases, water supply, climate change etc. The demand for more experts in several science subjects, and for a higher level of citizens’ scientific literacy is constantly increasing, since there is a growing need to improve the understanding of all these socio-scientific topics that have a substantial impact in human lives (Hammer and He, 2014). Results from recent studies in Greece (Kallery et al, 2009; Ergazaki et al, 2015; Kalogiannakis et al, 2018; Kalogiannakis and Papadakis, 2019), and other countries examining science knowledge in early childhood, revealed that children’s eagerness and curiosity in learning. It can be argued that it would be most beneficial to deal with science content knowledge from this early stage of their education

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Conclusion