1,721,106 research outputs found
Developing engineering skills and attitude towards engineering as technological literacy education for children aged 1-2 years
Get PDFThe term technological literacy means that an individual understands the wider
technological world. It is very important in early childhood learning period, as it is
related to all aspects of child development – physical and motor development,
perceptual development, cognitive development, speech development, social and
emotional development, and development of moral judgement.
The purpose of the diploma thesis is to determine technological literacy of children aged
1 to 2 years. We carried out five planned activities that stimulate developmental
milestones of children aged 1 to 2 years in the field of engineering: exploration box,
sensory path, traveling ball, sorting materials and sensory board. We connected these
activities with all curriculum fields.
The theoretical part substantiates technological literacy and its three important
dimensions: knowledge, ability, and critical thinking and evaluation. The importance of
play and developmental characteristics of children aged 1 to 2 according to the author
Jean Piaget are also presented. Individual curriculum fields were then connected with
engineering and examples of activities.
In the empirical part of the diploma thesis, we used a survey questionnaire to analyze
the way in which professional kindergarten workers develop engineering skills,
dexterity, and attitude towards engineering in children. The analysis of the survey
questionnaire revealed that most professional workers know the importance of
technological literacy, but still do not consider it as a very important field in their group.
The empirical part also includes an analysis of five activities carried out in a group of
children aged 1-2 years. The purpose of the five activities was to introduce the youngest
children in the first age group to engineering and technology, despite the fact it is not
defined as an individual field in the kindergarten curriculum
Traffic education of preschool children
Get PDFPre-school children are involved in road traffic on daily basis, either as pedestrians, cyclists or as passengers in cars; they also belong to the group of most vulnerable road users. It is for this reason that children should be educated to develop safe traffic habits as early as possible. Education on road safety must start at a very young age, primarily within the family and later on in co-operation with kindergarten and school.
The first part of the thesis presents the developmental characteristics of pre-school children. In addition, an explanation of traffic characteristics is given and of the ways in which children appear as participants in road traffic. The final part of the thesis is dedicated to education on traffic safety, the scope of such education, the role of an adequate and well-timed education and methods of providing such education. The empirical part describes the workshops on traffic safety in which games and various activities were used to teach children about traffic and to understand what they already know. The set objectives have been reached and the hypotheses have been confirmed. We have determined that the children already had quite some knowledge on traffic and the workshops on road safety have helped the children gain new knowledge and acquire new skills and abilities regarding road traffic
Forming products made of modeling masses and their use in mathematical activities of children in the age group from 4 to 6 years
Get PDFIn the market, there are a great number of various types of modeling masses. Some of them are natural and some of them are of artificial origin. The common characteristic of all is the possibility of transformation of the original form of the material into a new, desired product. This is achieved through the use of various design techniques. The use of the most optimal of them depends on the type of the mass we choose for modeling.
Modeling masses represent an exceptionally useful means for the use in the preschool period, as a child assimilates important elements and experiences, which are necessary for his development, through the very process of forming and creating. In the process of creating, a child strengthens fine motoric functions, improves the abilities of problem-solving, enhances the level of creative thinking, and develops technical skills. At the same time, he learns modeling features and material characteristics of individually used modeling masses. Their use, however, is not necessarily finished by the creation of the final product. Namely, creating products from modeling masses offers a great opportunity for further use in other fields also. In this bachelor’s thesis, we focused on connecting with the curricular field of mathematics where we created various didactic accessories for the needs of performing mathematical activities in the group of children in the age of 4 to 6 years in order to achieve the set goals successfully. By using such products, created from three various artificial modeling masses (Plasticine, Das Clay, and Fimo Clay), we managed to strengthen skills of children in mathematical fields of assimilating the ABC of counting, recognizing different geometric shapes, recognizing and successfully continuing the patterns and sorting the elements by length and size.
Forming didactic means from the modeling masses and their further use proved to be exceptionally welcome and useful. At the same time, this is an insufficiently spread method of work in the Slovenian kindergartens with regards to availability and broad possibilities of using such materials. Therefore, this bachelor’s thesis should be an incentive to the teachers for more regular inclusion of modeling masses in planning and performing the work with children. It also offers directives for their efficient use
Developing pre-school children\u27s creativity through the creative thinking tehnique in technical education
No full textamen diplomskega dela je bil uvesti tehnike ustvarjalnega mišljenja v delo s predšolskimi otroki. S pisanjem diplomskega dela smo želeli pedagoške delavce seznaniti z različnimi tehnikami ustvarjalnega mišljenja, ki jih lahko uporabijo tudi v praksi. V teoretičnem delu smo splošno opredelili ustvarjalnost ter se nato osredotočili na ustvarjalnost predšolskega otroka. Opisali smo različne tehnike ustvarjalnega mišljenja, ki smo jih vključili tudi v anketni vprašalnik za pedagoške delavce. Ker smo se v empiričnem delu osredotočali na otroke druge starostne skupine in z njimi izvajali dejavnosti, smo v teoretičnem delu predstavili tudi značilnosti razvoja predšolskega otroka. Značilnosti smo uredili na področja otrokovega razvoja ter se osredinili na razvoj otroka v drugem starostnem obdobju. V empiričnem delu smo analizirali podatke, ki smo jih pridobili z anketnim vprašalnikom. V raziskavo smo vključili 239 pedagoških delavcev in delavk slovenskih vrtcev, ki smo jih spraševali po stališčih, mnenju ter primerih prakse vključevanja ustvarjalnih dejavnosti v vrtec. V sklopu diplomskega dela smo preko tehnike ustvarjalnega mišljenja morfološke analize zasnovali in izdelali tudi dve igrači za predšolske otrok ter jih preizkusili v praksi. Eno od igrač smo zasnovali v sklopu načrtovane dejavnosti z otroki, starimi od pet do sedem let. V empiričnem delu smo dejavnosti z otroki analizirali in primerjali, kako se otroci igrajo z igračami, ki smo jih zasnovali in izdelali sami. Ugotovili smo, da pedagoški delavci vsakodnevno vključujejo dejavnosti, ki krepijo in razvijajo otrokovo ustvarjalnost preko različnih področij. Pri načrtovanju in izvajanju se trudijo upoštevati otrokov interes ter jim ponuditi raznovrstne materiale za ustvarjanje in igro.
Igrači, ki smo ju zasnovali in izdelali v sklopu diplomskega dela, smo preizkusili v dveh skupinah otrok drugega starostnega obdobja. Igro otrok smo opazovali in primerjali med seboj ter ugotovili, da med skupino otrok, ki so sodelovali pri zasnovi igrače, in med neodvisno skupino ni bilo posebnih razlik. Opazili pa smo, da so bili pri igri z igračami otroci zelo skrbni in pazljivi ter da so z igro dolgo časa vztrajali in imeli željo po ponavljanju dejavnosti. Ugotovili smo, da je poznavanje tehnik ustvarjalnega mišljenja med pedagoškimi delavci šibko, zato upamo, da bi z diplomskim delom spodbudili pedagoške delavce k spoznavanju novih tehnik ustvarjalnega mišljenja ter uporabi izvirnih idej pri delu z otroki, tudi v sklopu tehnične vzgoje.The purpose of the thesis is to introduce the technics of a creative thinking into work with preschool children. With writing of this thesis, we wanted to inform pedagogical workers with different technics of creative thinking, that they could use in practice. In the theoretical part of the thesis, we have generally defined the creativeness and then we have focused on creativeness of a preschool child. After that we have described different technics of creative thinking, and later on we have integrated it into survey questionnaire for pedagogical workers. Because of empirical part of the thesis, we have focused on a different cross-generational groups and we have performed activities, which we have described in theoretical part of the characteristics of an evolution of a preschool child. We have ordered characteristics in an area of a child’s evolution, and after that we have focused on a development of a child in a second age span. In the empirical part we have analyzed the data, which we have gathered with a survey questionnaire. In the research we have included 239 pedagogical workers from Slovenian kindergartens, which we have questioned about their opinion and work cases in integration of creative activities into kindergarten. As a part of a thesis, we have through morphological analysis of technics of a creative thinking designed and made two toys for a preschool child, and then we have tested the toys in practice. One of the toys was designed as a part of planned activities with the children in age span from 5 to 7 years. In the empirical part of thesis, we have analysed and compared the activities with children about their play time with the toys that we have designed and made. We have found out that every day pedagogical workers include activities that strengthens and develop child’s creativeness through different areas. In the planning they are trying to include child’s interest and offer them different materials to play with. The toys that we had created in a part of a thesis, have been tested in a two different age groups. We have observed and compared the children’s play time and after that we have come to the conclusion that in between of a group of children that have helped in a toy’s making and independent group there was no major differences. Also, we have noticed that during the play time with the toys, the children were very careful with the toy and persistent in repeating of the activities. The conclusion was that the knowledge about creative thinking among pedagogical workers is very bad, so we hope that with this thesis we would encourage pedagogical workers to study new technics of a creative thinking and uses of a new ideas meant for better work with children’s, even in a technical part of an education
Career decision-making and upper secondary school students\u27 interest in studying engineering and technology
No full textZanimanje gimnazijk in gimnazijcev za študij inženirstva in tehnike je pri nas razmeroma neraziskano področje, hkrati pa je ob vedno manjšem številu teh poklicev ter vedno večjem povpraševanju po njih to področje, ki je vredno preučevanja.
Z magistrskim delom smo želeli ugotoviti, za katere poklice je med trenutnimi gimnazijkami in gimnazijci največ zanimanja, ter spoznati, kakšne percepcije, mnenja, stališča in izkušnje imajo o omenjenem študiju. Da smo lahko svoje ugotovitve primerjali in jih postavili v kontekst, smo morali prej še raziskati, kakšno je trenutno stanje na tem področju. Zanimalo nas je tudi, kakšno samoučinkovitost imajo udeleženci raziskave, kako jo lahko povežemo z izbiro študija in v kolikšni meri na izbiro vpliva. Hkrati nas je še zanimalo, kaj jih motivira in kakšne čustvene potrebe imajo. Stanje smo primerjali tako po spolu kot tudi po letnikih izobraževanja. Na koncu smo še omenili, kako bi stanje na tem področju izboljšali.
V namen vsega tega smo najprej zapisali teoretični del, v katerem smo problem umestili v okolje in mu postavili teoretično zasnovo. Spoznali smo slovenski šolski sistem ter preverili, kakšno je trenutno stanje le-tega. Zanimalo nas je, katerih poklicev primanjkuje ter kakšno je stanje na področju števila učiteljev tehnike in tehnologije. Preučili smo področje samoučinkovitosti ter razne teorije, ki vplivajo na razvijanje posameznika. Poudarek smo dali tudi na dejavnikih okolja, predvsem na vpliv spola in spolne stereotipe, ki se v največji meri kažejo pri pomanjkanju žensk v inženirstvu. Dotaknili smo se še motivacije in načrtovanja kariere s pomočjo samodeterministične teorije ter kariere, interesa in poklicnega zanimanja za tehniko in inženirstvo. Preučili smo še čustvene potrebe posameznikov, saj si vsak želi biti v družbi sprejet in se v njej dobro počutiti.
Sledil je empirični del z zastavljenimi raziskovalnimi vprašanji. Za namen raziskave smo uporabili kvalitativno-kvantitativni pristop pedagoškega raziskovanja z osrednjo metodo anketnih vprašalnikov. Uporabili smo LAESE anketni vprašalnik in ga za potrebe raziskave nekoliko prilagodili. Nato smo zbrane rezultate analizirali po vprašanjih ter posameznih spremenljivkah, kasneje pa še s pomočjo programa IBM SPSS v.25 poiskali korelacije, stopnje povezanosti itd. S pomočjo pridobljenih rezultatov smo nato odgovorili na zastavljena raziskovalna vprašanja in cilje, pri katerih smo se navezali na teorijo iz teoretičnega dela magistrskega dela. Ugotovili smo, da se za inženirski poklic zanima slaba petina vprašanih. Po spolu se to število bistveno ni razlikovalo, lahko pa povemo, da so se moški bolje ocenili v povezavi z inženirstvom in tehniko pri vseh kategorijah, katere so sestavljaje postavke 23. in 24. vprašanja. Tako so se glede na spol pojavile statistično pomembne razlike (α ≤ 0,05) v vseh kategorijah z izjemo kategorije SSU. Primerjava po letnikih izobraževanja in kategorijah je pokazala, da se statistično pomembne razlike (α ≤ 0,05) pojavljajo le med 2. ter 4. letniki, in sicer pri kategorijah IKP in ISU. Korelacijska analiza je pokazala, da obstaja visoka povezanost med kategorijama ISUII in ISUI, kar je seveda logično, ter med ISUII in IKP. Izpostavimo lahko še dejstvo, da so anketiranci na lestvici strinjanja podpovprečno ocenili postavki ISU1 in ISU2, kar kaže na dejstvo, da niso prepričani v svojo uspešnost v inženirstvu in tehniki, hkrati pa v ta namen niso pripravljeni žrtvovati privatnega življenja.
Z magistrskim delom želimo dati vpogled v stanje zanimanja za inženirstvo in tehniko v Sloveniji in ugotoviti, s čim bi lahko to stanje izboljšali. Ugotoviti želimo, kakšna je samoučinkovitost sedanjih dijakov in dijakinj ter kako delujejo v družbi.Upper secondary students\u27 interest in studying engineering and technology is relatively poorly researched field in Slovenia, however, the number of these professions is decreasing and the demand is increasing, making this field interesting for research.
In this master\u27s thesis, we wanted to find out, which professions interest the current upper secondary students the most, and to establish, what kind of perception, opinion, point of view and experience these students have regarding the aforementioned studies. To compare our findings and place them into context, we firstly needed to research, what is the current state in this field. We also wanted to find out, what kind of self-efficacy the participants of the research have and how we can connect it to their choice of study and to what extent it influences their choice. At the same time, we were interested, what motivates them and what emotional needs they have. We compared the state according to gender as well as grade of education. Finally, we suggested, how we could improve the state in this field.
In the theoretical part of this thesis, we placed the problem into a context and set a theoretical plan. We got to know the Slovene school system and checked its state. We wanted to find out, which professions are lacking and the state in the number of teachers in engineering and technology. We studied the field of self-efficacy and different theories, which influence the development of an individual. The emphasis was also on the environment factors, mostly the influence of gender and gender stereotypes, which are mostly shown in the shortage of women in engineering. We also researched motivation and career-planning with the help of self-determination theory and career, interest and professional interest for technology and engineering. We studied the emotional needs of individuals as well, because everyone wishes to be accepted and feel good in their society.
The empirical part of the thesis follows with research questions. For the purpose of the research, we used a qualitative-quantitative approach of pedagogic research with the main method of questionnaires. We used the LAESE questionnaire and adapted it for our research. We analysed the collected results according to questions and separate variables and searched for correlations, levels of connectivity, etc. with the IBM SPSS programme. With the collected results and the help of theory from the theoretical part of the thesis, we answered the researched questions and aims of this master\u27s thesis. We established that merely a fifth of the respondents is interested in an engineering profession. There was no significant difference in number according to gender, however, the male respondents evaluated themselves better in connection with engineering and technology in all categories of the questionnaire. A statistically significant differences (α ≤ 0.05) appeared according to gender in all categories with an exception in category of dealing with self-efficacy. The comparison according to grades of education and categories showed that statistically significant differences (α ≤ 0.05) appear only among the second and fourth grades, namely in categories of engineering career expectations and engineering self-efficacy. The correlation analysis showed there is a high connectivity between categories engineering self-efficacy I and II, which is a logical turnout, as well as between engineering self-efficacy II and engineering career expectations. We can also stress out the fact that the respondents evaluated engineering self-efficacy I and II below average in the scale of agreeing, which shows that they are not sure about their success in engineering and technology and at the same time, they are not willing to sacrifice their private life.
With this master’s thesis we wish to give an insight into state of interest for engineering and technology in Slovenia and establish how to improve this state. We want to find out the level of self-efficacy of current students and how they function in society
Technical workshops with the crate of creativity and cross-curricular learning
Get PDFThe consumer-oriented world we live in today strives towards getting as much as possible in the shortest possible time, trying to achieve our goals in the easiest way possible and often neglects quality for the sake of affordable price. This can also be seen in the availability of toys that we buy for our children, because that is what they seem to want. However, oftentimes in the process of buying, we/parents do not pay attention to the quality of the toy and whether the toy is appropriate for the child or not. Do we even ask ourselves what, if anything, will the toy bring to our children's creativity, and if the children will use them to strengthen their mental and physical capabilities? In most cases, the toy will only satisfy their current needs. This is why I believe the role of the preschool teachers in this area is vital. That alone was the reason enough for me to set a challenge to construct a toy all by myself. One that will satisfy as wide of a range of children’s needs as possible and at the same time offer the possibility of further improvement. Alongside building a toy, we set an additional challenge. Specifically, how to induce greater creativity in the process of using this multifunctional didactic toy by means of various verbal incentives. We will focus on children from age of three to four years who will try and evaluate the toy.
It is the teacher’s creativity that benefits the children the most in the way that it enables them to develop their own potentials, to let them be bold and to free their imagination.
This kind of product assignment in the field of technics and technology is very desirable in the educational process as it enables the teacher and the child to familiarize themselves with all the phases of the process. From the initial idea, to the planning, making of the prototype, construction and lastly the assessment of the final product, which is then provided by the children. The child has to be an active participant in the whole process, has to have the opportunity to express his wishes and thoughts, to create something by himself and to achieve the goal that was set in the beginning. With my thesis I want to encourage teachers to be as creative as possible and to include more technical elements in their curriculum. Whatever the teachers will create with the children, whether it is a toy or a game, will certainly provide a bigger range of challenges and mean much more to the children than the toys bought in the store
Technological literacy with a didactic board for children aged 5-6 years
No full textOpismenjevanje je v današnjem svetu ključnega pomena, saj na ta način otroci spoznavajo in so lahko aktivno vključeni v svet okoli sebe. Že tako se pismenost pojavlja vse povsod okoli nas, ko pa se pojavi še tehnološka pismenost, ji nekako ne moremo pobegniti. Zato morajo otroci v predšolskem obdobju razviti notranjo motivacijo – željo po znanju, hkrati pa mora biti prisotna tudi zunanja motivacija, s katero jih starši znajo motivirati za »učenje« opismenjevanja in tehnološke pismenosti. Ta naj se v kurikulumu za vrtcu prepleta čez vseh šest področij – od gibanja, umetnosti, matematike, družbe, narave in jezika, saj se le tako lahko celostno posvetimo opismenjevanju in tehnološki pismenosti preko vsakdanjega življenja doma in v vrtcu.
V teoretičnem delu diplomskega dela smo se osredotočili na opismenjevanje predšolskih otrok, na štiri temeljne jezikovne sposobnosti, dejavnike opismenjevanja, tri dimenzije tehnološke pismenosti in povezave tehnološke pismenosti s preostalimi področji kurikuluma za vrtce. V empiričnem delu diplomskega dela smo analizirali in predstavili anketni vprašalnik, v katerega so bili vključeni strokovni delavci ljubljanskih vrtcev. Raziskava je pokazala, da strokovni delavci vrtcev poznajo pojem tehnološke pismenosti, hkrati tehnološki pismenosti na splošno posvečajo premalo pozornosti. V raziskavi smo iskali tudi izboljšave že predhodno izdelane didaktične table. Na podlagi njihovih odgovorov smo didaktično tablo nadgradili in jo ponudili otrokom, starim 5–6 let. Pri tem smo opazovali njihovo rokovanje z njo ter prepoznavanje in povezovanje posameznih delov na tabli. Vpliv zasnovanih dejavnosti ob vključitvi didaktične table pri učenju tehnološke pismenosti se je izkazal za zelo pozitivnega.Literacy is crucial in today\u27s world, because children learn about and can be actively involved in the world around them in this way. Literacy is already appearing everywhere around us, but when we add technological literacy, we somehow cannot escape it. Therefore, in the preschool period, children must develop internal motivation - a desire for knowledge, but at the same time there must also be external motivation present, with which parents can motivate them to "learn" literacy and technological literacy. In the curriculum for kindergartens, literacy should be interwoven with all six areas of child development, from movement, art, mathematics, society, nature to language, because only in this way can we fully devote ourselves to literacy and technological literacy through everyday life at home and in kindergartens.
In the theoretical part of this thesis, we focused on the literacy of preschool children, on the four basic language skills, factors of literacy, three dimensions of technological literacy and on the connection of technological literacy with the rest of the areas of child development in the curriculum for kindergartens. In the empirical part of the thesis, we analyzed and presented a questionnaire in which professional workers from different kindergartens in Ljubljana were included. The research showed that kindergarten professionals are familiar with the concept of technological literacy, but at the same time, they generally pay too little attention to it. In the research, we also looked for improvements for the previously created didactic board. Based on the answers, we upgraded the didactic board and offered it to children aged 5-6, we observed their handling of it, recognition and connection of individual parts on the board. The impact of these prepared activities with the inclusion of the didactic board in learning technological literacy has proven to be very positive
Promoting the development of fine motor skills through activities with didactic wooden toys in preschool
No full textV predšolskem obdobju ima v gibalnem razvoju pomembno vlogo razvoj fine motorike, ki je ključna za nadaljnji razvoj pisalnih zmožnosti. V diplomskem delu smo predstavili lesene igrače, namenjene razvoju fine motorike v predšolskem obdobju. Namen diplomskega dela je vpeljevanje lesenih didaktičnih igrač za razvijanje fine motorike v dejavnosti predšolskih otrok, starih 2–3 leta.
V osrednjem delu so predstavljena teoretična izhodišča o razvoju fine motorike pri predšolskih otrocih, zakaj je razvoj pomemben in uporaba lesa kot trajnostnega materiala za izdelavo igrač. Opredeljena je tudi tehnična vzgoja v predšolskem obdobju, ki v Kurikulumu za vrtce (1999) ni opredeljena kot samostojno področje, vendar lahko cilje, ki se nanašajo na tehnično vzgojo, najdemo zapisane pod posamezna področja.
V empiričnem delu smo analizirali in predstavili rezultate anketnega vprašalnika, ki je bil poslan strokovnim delavcem v vrtcih. Vprašalnik je bil oblikovan v obliki spletne ankete 1KA, s katero smo želeli ugotoviti, kakšno je stališče vzgojiteljev do spodbujanja razvoja fine motorike, do uporabe različnih nestrukturiranih materialov, predvsem lesa v predšolskem obdobju, in koliko samostojno izdelujejo igrače doma. Na anketni vprašalnik je odgovorilo 133 strokovnih delavcev. Večini se zdi razvoj fine motorike pomemben, hkrati pa jim je pomembno, da razvoj v predšolskem obdobju spodbujamo z različnimi materiali.
Pri praktičnem delu smo izdelane didaktične igrače predstavili v skupini otrok, starih 2–3 leta, kjer so imeli na voljo pet didaktičnih igrač. Opazovanje je potekalo mesec dni. Želeli smo raziskati in ugotoviti, kako z izdelanimi igračami vplivamo na otrokovo fino motoriko. Opazovanje je potekalo individualno, opažanja smo beležili s pomočjo opazovalnega lista.
Z diplomskim delom smo ugotovili, da je pomembno spodbujati razvoj fine motorike in da se s tem strinjajo tudi anketirani strokovni delavci. Ugotovili smo, da je les trajen material, ki se dobro obnese pri izdelavi igrač. Otroci so po izdelanih igračah samostojno posegali, preko opazovanja pa smo ugotovili tudi njihov napredek v igri s tovrstnimi igračami.
Diplomsko delo je namenjeno vsem strokovnim delavcem, ki so zaposleni v vrtcih in jih zanima, kako lahko z različnimi didaktičnimi igračami vplivamo na razvoj fine motorike. Diplomsko delo je namenjeno tudi vsem študentom, ki se izobražujejo v predšolski smeri.In the preschool period, the promoting of fine motor skills plays an important role in motor development, which is crucial for the further development of writing abilities. In the thesis, we presented wooden toys designed to develop fine motor skills in the preschool period. The purpose of the thesis is to introduce wooden didactic toys for the development of fine motor skills in activities for preschool children aged 2-3 years.
The central part presents theoretical foundations on the development of fine motor skills in preschool children, why development is important, and the use of wood as a sustainable material for making toys. It also defines technical education in the preschool period, which is not defined as a separate area in the Kindergarten Curriculum (1999), but the objectives related to technical education can be found written under individual areas.
In the empirical part, we analyzed and presented the results of a survey questionnaire that was sent to professionals in kindergartens. The questionnaire was designed in the form of an online survey using 1KA to determine the educators\u27 stance on promoting the development of fine motor skills, the use of various unstructured materials, especially wood, in the preschool period, and how much they independently engage in toy making at home. 133 professionals responded to the survey questionnaire. Most of them consider the development of fine motor skills important, and at the same time, it is important to them to promote development in the preschool period with various materials.
In the practical part, we presented the designed didactic toys to a group of children aged 2-3 years, where they had access to 5 didactic toys. Observation took place over a month, where we aimed to explore and determine how the crafted toys influenced the children\u27s fine motor skills. The observation was conducted individually, and observations were recorded using an observation checklist.
Through the thesis, we found that promoting the development of fine motor skills is important, and this is also agreed upon by the surveyed professionals. We discovered that wood is a durable material that performs well in toy making. Children interacted independently with the toys, and through observation, we also noted their progress in playing with such toys.
The thesis is intended for all professionals employed in kindergartens who are interested in how various didactic toys can influence the development of fine motor skills. It is also intended for all students studying in the preschool education field
Learning styles, attitude towards technology and creativity of students in 6th and 9th grade of elementary school
Get PDFDifferent levels of motivation, different relations towards lessons and learning and also different reactions in learning process are the factors that are influencing many achievements of the students. The teacher has to have knowledge of this differences to be more successful at planning the lessons and improve educational results. The main goal of our work was to explore learning styles, creativity and relation towards the course of engineering in the 6th and 9th grade , when the students have already absorbed the course of engineering.
In the introductory theoretical part this dissertation defines learning styles and their features. We presented creativity, technical creativity and the creativity in the course of engineering. We also described advices and methods to encourage creativity at home and at school. With the help of different researches that were carried out we established the relations of students in the 6th and 9th grade towards engineering and technology, their learning styles and their creativity during this age group. For our research we used a complex instrumentation- questionnaire Technology and me, questionnaire about learning styles and a creativity test with drawing. All of the three tests above are very reliable, because they strongly surpass the minimum value of the coefficient of correlation - Cronbach α > 0,6. At creativity we established statistically non significant differences (p>0,05) between students of 6th and 9th grade. In the 6th grade statistically significant differences (p<0,05) are shown according to gender, in favour of girls. The results of learning styles are presented in categories and we have been attentive on statistically distinctive differences (p<0,05) between 6th and 9th grade. Students of 6th grade have developed strong sequential and tactful learning styles, learning styles which do not need input, their learning process is best in the morning and in the afternoon, they are persistent, need motivation from others, require silent learning environment, more light and formal furniture (a chair and a desk).The learning process of students of 9th grade is best in the evening and they need input at their studies. We discovered positive and negative correlations in the connection between creativity and learning styles. Reflexive learning style encourages creativity, while sequential learning style decelerates creativity. In general, perceived students attitude toward technology is under average in a scale with a mid-point 3. The differences between 6th and 9th grade at the attitude towards technology are seen in tediousness towards technology, adequacy of technology across gender, difficulty of technology. Female students in average perceive technology at low level, with higher tediousness towards technology, and reduced aspiration toward professional occupation in technology and engineering while their male counterparts state that technology is more male domain.
The results of our work are good base and direction for technology teachers to improve the instruction of engineering and at the same time, we also gave some cues for researchers in the area of optimisation of technology education
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