Using dialogic interventions to decrease children’s use of inappropriate teleological explanations

Abstract

ABSTRACT A belief in teleology is often suggested to be a barrier in children’s science education. Many studies have catalogued children’s use of teleological explanations, but fewer have developed approaches to tackle children’s use in scientific contexts. This paper reports two studies that utilised dialogic interventions alongside Concept Cartoons to do just that. Study 1 (5- to 7-year-olds, n = 54) addressed teleological explanations for natural phenomena (e.g. snow or rainbows) and Study 2, (9- to 10-year-olds, n = 24) explored organisms’ traits (e.g. giraffes’ necks or zebras’ stripes). Both studies found that after only short discussions about styles of explanation in science, children’s acceptance of teleological explanations was significantly reduced and they were more likely to endorse appropriate scientific explanations. These results suggest that teleology need not be a major barrier to teaching and learning about causality as it can quickly and effectively be addressed.