< Back to previous page

Project

Teaching Chemistry to Primary School Children: A Board Game Case Study Linking Material Hardness to Atoms and Bonds

In this work, it was investigated whether children can explain the mechanistic relationship between atoms and bonds and the hardness of materials by playing a custom-made board game. Recent studies show that primary school children can already understand and retain aspects of the particulate nature of matter after formal teaching interventions. In this project, material hardness was selected after conducting an extensive curriculum analysis that showed that “material properties” is the most dominant chemistry-related topic in primary and lower secondary school in European countries. The design guideline to make the game was intrinsic integration, implying that the learning content is embedded within the game mechanics to maximize potential learning. The game was then tested in a mixed method case study with children and teachers. It was found that the game had a high and continuous impact on most children since they justified material hardness with atoms and bonds up to two months after playing the game. Both children and teachers found the game intrinsically interesting, and the effort to learn playing it was low. Teachers found the game a valuable teaching aid to teach material hardness. Moreover, primary school teachers did not need additional chemistry training to teach how hardness is caused by atoms and their interactions. In summary, a valuable and compact teaching aid has been created to support the conceptual understanding of children about the particulate nature of matter. This understanding can help to avoid misconceptions during their later chemistry education.

Date:14 Mar 2019 →  14 Dec 2023
Keywords:Chemical concepts, Primary School, Early Secondary School, Educational Games, Innovative Education
Disciplines:Science, technology and engineering curriculum and pedagogics, Curriculum and pedagogical theory and development, Other (bio)chemical engineering not elsewhere classified, Other chemical sciences not elsewhere classified
Project type:PhD project