(ACECCE-E) Discovery of the World
About This Course
Appreciation of nature and the environment should begin at an early age. Children have an inbuilt drive for discovery. They are constantly moving about, exploring, observing and testing the environment to see what happens. Children need ongoing encounters in their daily contexts to fully understand the processes of observing, classifying, comparing, measuring, communicating, experimenting, and inferring as part of their basis of understanding scientific phenomena.
In this module, students will gain an understanding of the importance of developing children’s curiosity, creativity, sense of wonder, appreciation of nature and problem-solving skills in the exploration of science. Focus will be made on different approaches to the guiding children to explore and investigate why and how things work. Questioning techniques that will encourage children to develop creativity, knowledge, abilities and attitudes in science will be covered. The constructivist approach is highlighted in this module to explain how young children construct knowledge, the influence of the constructivist environment and the role of the teacher. This approach should encourage students to rethink their teaching practices in the early childhood classroom.
What You'll Learn
1. The ability to understand:
▪ How young children develop scientific understandings, abilities and attitudes
▪ The value of hands-on experiences for children in science discovery activities
▪ The essential questioning techniques to further extend children's curiosity and knowledge of science concepts
▪ Core values of early childhood education as outlined in the NEL Framework
▪ Strategies to design and implement classroom activities and programmes that inculcate the core values of early childhood education
2. The ability to:
▪ Plan and implement child-centric discovery activities that inculcate the core values of early childhood education
3. The ability to:
▪ Contribute to the planning and implementation of child-centric discovery activities and programmes that inculcate the core values of early childhood education
Entry Requirements
Applicants should have:
a. 3 GCE ‘O’ level credits including a grade C6 in GCE ‘O’ level English Language OR Any English Language Acceptable Alternatives
OR
b. 10 years of formal education and passed state exam with credits in 3 different subjects including a credit at least C6 in EL1 or any English Language Acceptable Alternatives