Teaching nanoscale elements through digital technologies: Experimental research in early childhood education

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Published: Sep 13, 2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/codiste.6820
Pandora Dorouka
Department of Preschool Education, University of Crete
Michael Kalogiannakis
Department of Special Education, University of Thessaly
Abstract

This paper focuses on comparing the impact and effectiveness of alternative experiential teaching on early-primary school children in the interdisciplinary field of NST against its more contemporary alternatives that employ computers and smart mobile devices. Using software applications in the form of digital games, the context of this research is to expose groups of young children to elements of NST concepts and examine the learning outcomes. The three-step research aimed to measure the effectiveness of two different digital technologies (computers and tablets) at an introductory level on children's understanding of Nanotechnology concepts. One hundred fifty second-grade children were divided into two experimental and a control group. The Nanotechnology Elementary Knowledge Assessment Test (TENANO) assessed children's knowledge about size. The findings revealed that the two experimental groups significantly outperformed the post-test control group, with the dominant tablet group.

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