Preliminary identification of the potential of using MIEM in the context of stimulating the development of selected cognitive processes of students in early childhood education

Abstract

The article presents the results of a quantitative-qualitative study that examined the experiences of children and early childhood education teachers with multi-layered interactive materials in which augmented reality technology was implemented. The article also addresses issues related to support (MIEM) for selected cognitive processes of early childhood education students. The research was conducted within the framework of the Ministry of Education and Science's program titled: Pupil circles create innovation. The study involved 1153 early childhood education students between the ages of 7 and 10, as well as their teachers, who constituted a group of 41 early childhood education teachers. A triangulation of research methods was used in the study. For the group of students, a diagnostic survey method was used, for which a survey questionnaire was developed on the Kahoot platform and an in-depth interview using an interview questionnaire. For the group of teachers, a diagnostic survey method was used, for which a survey questionnaire was developed. The survey was implemented using the Computer Assisted Personal Interview technique on the Google Forms platform. On the basis of the conducted research, conclusions were developed in terms of the main objective of the research, which was: preliminary identification of the potential for using MIEM in the context of cognitive processes in early childhood education. The results of the research indicate that early childhood education students received the introduced innovation into the teaching process to a very positive degree. First of all, MIEM resulted in high motivation for learning. The result of which was a significant number of memorized messages contained in MIEM. It should also be added that this fact can have an impact on students' memory and perceptiveness. It can also be tentatively concluded that MIEM can have an impact on cognitive processes in particular on thinking and imagination. This conclusion follows directly from the type of technology that allows generating things previously difficult to visualize. In addition, the experiences of teachers who participated in the study indicate that MIEMs provide new opportunities for experimentation and interactive learning. According to the teachers, MIEMs make it possible to support the teaching and learning of nature, mathematics, as well as other subjects. Early childhood education teachers enthusiastically welcomed the use of AR, as well as seeing this technology as a solution to the problems of implementing the principle of viewability in early childhood education.