Action research on developing inquiry-based science activities in early childhood education

This study was conducted as a collaborative action research in order to develop inquiry-based science activities in early childhood education. The teachers who are involved in this study were interviewed to determine their perceptions and practices regarding the current science activities and inquiry based learning. Then, following the process in which a teacher designs such activities, the challenges she encounters and what kind of solutions she comes up with to the issues were identified. Finally, the teacher's evaluation of inquiry based learning practices and the research itself was added. The participants were 13 teachers at an official and independent kindergarten in Adana, Turkey. After determining the current situation and the problem, one of these teachers (Ö2) and 13 students in her class took part in the study. The data was collected through qualitative methods such as interviews, observations and documents. All the data collected went through content analysis in an inductive way. According to the observations, it was found out that the teachers involved in the study spent less time on science activities than other activities in the current situation. It was also observed that the science activities were teacher centered and they lacked inquiry based learning, which was a problem. To develop inquiry based learning in science education, six action cycles were created during the research. With the observations and the interviews carried out, it was concluded that the teacher showed some important progress in planning, implementing and evaluating inquiry based science learning for her five-age group of learners. As a result, in the process of developing inquiry based learning practices in science education, the teacher demonstrated some behavior which encouraged the inquiry, implemented the steps on inquiry and also limited the inquiry. It was noted that the teacher had some difficulties due to both internal and external factors in the implementation stage of inquiry based science learning. The teacher experienced some problems because of the school culture, family involvement, and physical facilities of the school. Most of these problems were overcome with the solutions the teacher came up with in the action research. It was concluded that the teacher successfully implemented inquiry based learning activities with the help of update meetings, her own practices, and her reflective evaluations during the research. The results showed that the students were involved in the process more, gained experience in inquiry, started asking questions, expressed their curiosity, and had more interaction with their teacher and peers. The teacher stated that science activities through inquiry based learning are applicable in early childhood education. However, it was observed that the teacher needed more support and guidance in methodological, practical, technical and emotional terms.