meaningful and understandable to them.
One of the primary goals of science education is to teach children how to do
science through applying the processes of science in individual inquiries (Bruner,
1965; National Research Council [NRC], 1996; Rutherford & Ahlgren, 1990). In
this paper, we describe a constructivist model we use to help early childhood
teachers develop confidence and skill in teaching children how to do science. We
call it process-oriented inquiry. We discuss the nature of this methodology, and
we provide some examples appropriate for teachers of early childhood science.
The best way for teachers to become comfortable in teaching science is to explore
for themselves some activities intended for the children they teach. In our classes,
students carry out activities and then construct ways they can implement them in
actual classrooms. By doing the activities themselves, they gain familiarity with
them and their use through first-hand experience. First, they conduct the activities
in class in small groups. Next, they reflect on what they have learned and on their
feelings about being encouraged to construct their own conceptualizations through
their own explorations. Then, they develop lessons for young children which use
the process-oriented inquiry activities from class as well as other activities that
promote inquiry. The lesson plan format we suggest for use by preservice early
childhood teachers is shown in Figure 1.