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‘Bear Hunt’ Sparks Change: Using Lesson Study to Integrate Spatial Thinking in Early Childhood Design Education

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Spatial Cognition XIII (Spatial Cognition 2024)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 14756))

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Abstract

Develo** spatial ability in early childhood is crucial, but not all children are naturally drawn to spatial activities like construction. For those with different play preferences, integrating design and construction tasks with storybooks will engage them more, tap** into their problem-solving interests. Despite the central role of storytelling in early childhood education, it's relatively new for teachers to use stories to engage children in spatialized design assignments. This study addresses this gap by implementing a Lesson Study approach in six Irish junior and senior infant classrooms from two schools with ten teachers. Qualitative data from classrooms and teacher discussions reveal positive outcomes: teachers altered their lesson strategies, gained insights into their students’ spatial thinking, improved spatial design assignment development, and enhanced selfefficacy in conducting spatialized lessons. These outcomes underscore the efficacy of Lesson Study for professional development in early childhood spatial education.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    https://earlymaths.org/spatial-books/.

  2. 2.

    https://elsaprogram.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/STEM-Booklist_Publishing-040518.pdf.

  3. 3.

    available at: https://earlymaths.org/spatial-reasoning.

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Acknowledgments

This research is a component of SellSTEM (Spatially Enhanced Learning Linked to STEM), a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network dedicated to exploring the significance of spatial ability in STEM learning. It has been financially supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement (grant number 956124). We express our gratitude to the Monahan Education Center in Ireland for their support throughout this research. We thank Caiwei Zhu for her contributions to data analysis and Estefania Gamarra Burga for her valuable comments. Special thanks go to the participating teachers, students, and school principals from both schools.

Disclosure of Interests.  

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Delft University of Technology, Delft, 2628 CJ, The Netherlands

    Rohit Mishra & Remke M. Klapwijk

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  1. Rohit Mishra
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Correspondence to Rohit Mishra .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Technological University Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Marija Živković

  2. Technological University of the Shannon: Midlands Midwest, Athlone, Ireland

    Jeffrey Buckley

  3. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Marianna Pagkratidou

  4. Technological University Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Gavin Duffy

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Mishra, R., Klapwijk, R.M. (2024). ‘Bear Hunt’ Sparks Change: Using Lesson Study to Integrate Spatial Thinking in Early Childhood Design Education. In: Živković, M., Buckley, J., Pagkratidou, M., Duffy, G. (eds) Spatial Cognition XIII. Spatial Cognition 2024. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 14756. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-63115-3_9

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