[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-145245-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-145245-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","scientific-playworlds-a-model-of-teaching-science-in-play-based-settings","Scientific Playworlds - a Model of Teaching Science in Play-Based Settings","","Scientific Playworlds presents a model for teaching science in play-based early childhood settings by building on the cognitive features of children’s imaginative play. A case study of 3 preschool teachers and 26 children aged 3.6–5.9 years used 6 weeks of digital observations and 788 photographs to examine how imaginative play supports scientific learning and how teachers can guide it. Collective scientific narrative building and discourses of wondering were key determinants of learning.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/scientific-playworlds-a-model-of-teaching-science-in-play-based-settings/145245/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/scientific-playworlds-a-model-of-teaching-science-in-play-based-settings/145245.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Hazel","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-04","2026-08-26",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",8,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What problem does Scientific Playworlds address in early childhood science teaching?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"It examines how scientific reasoning in guided imaginative play can be designed into play-based teaching so preschool teachers intentionally engage children in scientific thought.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"How was the case study conducted in this research?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"The study involved 3 preschool teachers and 26 children over 6 weeks, generating 59.6 hours of digital observations and 788 photographs of children’s play practices.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What pedagogical elements were found to support scientific learning in play-based settings?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"Transforming imaginary situations into scientific narratives required principles such as using a cultural device that mirrors science experiences, creating imaginary scientific situations, collectively building scientific problem situations, and connecting observable contexts to non-observable concepts.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},145245,1787719036,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,106,111,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":102,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":103,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":107,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":108,"show_sort_weight":109,"slug":110},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":55,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":80,"read_time":144},137441390410,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/2000252f4ab5702993?_k=1776741390130283984","Res Sci Educ (2019) 49:1257–1278 DOI 10.1007/s11165-017-9653-z  \nScientific Playworlds: a Model of Teaching Science in Play-Based Settings  \nMarilyn Fleer 1  \nPublished online: 8 September 2017  \n\\# Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2017  \nAbstract Eminent scientists, like Einstein, worked with theoretical contradiction, thought experiments, mental models and visualisation—all characteristics of children ’s play. Supporting children’s play is a strength of early childhood teachers. Promising research shows a link between imagination in science and imagination in play. A case study of 3 preschool teachers and 26 children (3.6–5.9 years; mean age of 4.6 years) over 6 weeks was undertaken, generating 59.6 h of digital observations and 788 photographs of play practices. The research sought to understand (1) how imaginative play promotes scientific learning and (2) examined how teachers engaged children in scientific play. Although play pedagogy is a strength of early childhood teachers, it was found that transforming imaginary situations into scientific narratives requires different pedagogical characteristics. The study found that the building of collective scientific narratives alongside of discourses of wondering were key determinants of science learning in play-based settings. Specifically, the pedagogical principles of using a cultural device that mirrors the science experiences, creating imaginary scientific situations, collectively building scientific problem situations, and imagining the relations between observable contexts and non-observable concepts, changed everyday practices into a scientific narrative and engagement. It is argued that these unique pedagogical characteristics promote scientific narratives in play-based settings. An approach, named as Scientific Playworlds, is presented as a possible model for teaching science in play-based settings.  \nKeywords Early childhoodteachers. Cultural-historical. Science education. Playworlds. Play. Affective imagination  \n* Marilyn Fleer [marilyn.fleer@monash.edu](marilyn.fleer@monash.edu)  \n1 Monash University, Peninsula Campus, McMahons Rd, Frankston, VIC 3199, Australia  \nIntroduction  \nDespite the vast evidence showing the contribution of play to childhood learning and development, little is known about how scientific reasoning in guided imaginative play can be designed into play-based teaching programs so that preschool teachers intentionally engage young children in scientific thought in play-based settings. The study reported in this paper addresses this problem.  \nMany eminent scientists have revealed childhoods where thought experiments and visualisation during imaginative play feature (e.g. Rothenberg 1979) . Einstein reported spending hours playing with his toy trains and, as an adult, advocated that BPlay is the highest form of research ^ . What they appear to have in common is an exceptional cognitive capacity to visualise, imagine, model and explore theoretical contradictions for certain features of the physical world (e.g. Kass 2003) . For instance, thought experiments and mental models that give fundamentally different theoretical insights are evident in the scientific work of Michael Faraday when exploring electricity and magnetism. Albert Einstein ’s theory of relativity was partially derived through thought experiments. Steven Hawking used visualisation to consider big ideas in science, such asthe origins of the university, and through this paved the way for new lines of scientific inquiry in science. Barbara McClintock imagined travelling down the microscope, examining the genetic structure whilst simultaneously imagining the living ecosystem of corn fields (Fox Keller 1983) . In her scientific work, she was simultaneously imagining the relations between molecular and observable contexts, changing the course of genetics research. Many of these eminent scientists comfortably engaged in theoretical contradictions, and through this created the condit","cbCaipa20wBrMhbo","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaipa20wBrMhbo","pdf",1844606,22,"English","# Introduction\n## Research purpose and problem\n## Conceptual framework and approach\n## Study design and focus\n## Findings and discussion\n## Conclusion: Scientific Playworlds model","[{\"question\":\"What problem does Scientific Playworlds address in early childhood science teaching?\",\"answer\":\"It examines how scientific reasoning in guided imaginative play can be designed into play-based teaching so preschool teachers intentionally engage children in scientific thought.\"},{\"question\":\"How was the case study conducted in this research?\",\"answer\":\"The study involved 3 preschool teachers and 26 children over 6 weeks, generating 59.6 hours of digital observations and 788 photographs of children’s play practices.\"},{\"question\":\"What pedagogical elements were found to support scientific learning in play-based settings?\",\"answer\":\"Transforming imaginary situations into scientific narratives required principles such as using a cultural device that mirrors science experiences, creating imaginary scientific situations, collectively building scientific problem situations, and connecting observable contexts to non-observable concepts.\"}]","Scientific Playworlds - a Model of Teaching Science in Play-Based Settings | PDF",55]