Primary School Children단s Knowledge Structure Changes: Observed on Concept Maps for the Unit of 단Structure and Function of Plant단

식물의 구조와 기능단 단원의 학습과정에서 초등학교 아동들의 지식구조의 변화

This study examined the knowledge structure constructed by children before formal instruction, and successive changes in the structural complexity of knowledge during the learning of the 'Structure and Function of Plants' unit. The researchers let the 5th graders draw the first draft of their concept maps in order to examine the pre-existing knowledge structure concerned with the unit and also four concept maps after completing every fourth lesson. Each concept map drawn by children on the basis of the previous one showed the degree of their current understanding on the structure and function of plants. The results revealed that only two levels of hierarchy and five relationships among the components of the first concept map(relationship, hierarchy, cross link and example) were proven to be valid in terms of conceptual relevance. According to the standard map, there was no change in hierarchy from the 2nd to the 3rd map, and in example from the 2nd to the 4th map. However, the gradual and successive increases of the scores in all components appeared in the children's maps throughout the unit. Knowledge restructuring occurred strongly in the early periods from the 1st to the 6th lesson, and the significant stable changes in tuning and accretion appeared throughout the whole lessons. The results also showed that there were no significant gender differences on the 5th grader's knowledge structuring.