Object based learning in Early Years Education: evaluative study of a teaching intervention

Abstract

Objects can be an ideal resource to work with historical contents at an early age since they are tangible elements that let students experience directly and allow the introduction of the past in a motivating way. However, evaluative research regarding the analysis of the benefits that such strategy has are scarce. Here lies the importance of this research. This research focuses its attention on the analysis and assessment of the learning outcomes achieved by the students after the implementation of a teaching intervention designed ad hoc for this study. The final aim of this study is to specify the educational implications that object based learning strategies has for the development of thinking skills. This is a quasi-experimental study with a qualitative approach. The data have been collected through participant observation, participant intervention recordings, and a rating scale developed by the students. The intervention was carried out in a 5-year-old classroom, with a total of 19 participants. After the implementation, an improvement can be seen in relation to certain observation and description skills and the process of interaction with the sources. The students also expressed the high level of motivation they experienced. All this leads to think that the introduction of these strategies in Early Years Education favor the development of the mentioned thinking skills among the young learners.