Practical Exploration Of Scientific Inquiry Activities In Kindergarten Under STEM Concept

STEM is the acronym of science,technology,engineering and mathematics.It is a new trend in the development of international science education in recent decade,and has an important impact on the way of science education in kindergartens in China.STEM education conforms to the innate curiosity of children.It is beneficial to the development of children’s scientific literacy,their brain and hands-on ability,and the teachers’ ability to organize scientific inquiry activities.STEM meets the needs of the future era,and is also closely related to the science and technology advance in our society.Therefore,we need to find out suitable ways of STEM localization.Taken into account the current situation of kindergarten development in China,on top of the excellent experience from abroad.Scientific inquiry activities under STEM education concept reflect the characteristics of subject comprehensiveness,situationality,operability,independence,etc.Starting from the problems encountered in the real-life situation,children would constantly improve their hands-on skills and problem-solving abilities in the process of designing,performing,improving and reflecting.Such approach is of great significance to the overall development of children and the improvement of their scientific literacy.After sorting out the relevant theoretical research on STEM education at home and abroad,this study,guided by the STEM education concept,conducts practical research on related scientific inquiry activities in kindergartens.First of all,the author analyzed the problems and current situation in the practice of scientific inquiry activities in the target C kindergarten by means of interview and observations.The findings showed that the goals of activities in that kindergarten is to emphasize cognition rather than emotion;pay more attention to performance than recording process;emphasize teaching and neglect the needs of children;pay more attention to summative evaluation than formative evaluation.Secondly,combined with STEM education concept,the author looked for a model suitable for the design of scientific inquiry activities in kindergartens,and used this model to carry out specific practical activities in C Kindergarten.Lastly,based on the research of our practical activities and the follow-ups,the author constantly summarized,reflected and improved the present study over time.Finally,the author made the following suggestions for scientific inquiry activities in kindergartens under the STEM education concept:create a supportive environment to improve teachers’ quality;enrich the forms of activities and support diversified evaluation;strengthen the integration of subject contents and build kindergarten-based characteristic courses.