Research in Action: Public - University of Calgary

The U of C’s research bug
bites five-year-olds.
You can never be too young to be curious, as University of Calgary graduate students discovered through
their research in the classroom with elementary school children.
“We asked the children what they ‘wonder’ about certain topics covered in the school curriculum, such as
weather,” says Dr. Anne McKeough, professor in the U of C’s Faculty of Education Division of Applied Psychology.
“Throughout our study the children explored their ideas and questions — and became junior researchers in
their own right as they too inquired and gathered more information on the topics they were curious about. They
began to articulate their ideas and to understand they had theories of their own.”
McKeough leads her graduate students in collaborative research focused on the cognitive development of
children. A recently completed four-year study explored inquiry and its role in children’s literacy development
and their understanding of the learning process. The research team worked alongside teachers and their
students in kindergarten and Grade 1 classes in the Golden Hills School District.
Exploration leads to increased vocabulary, confidence and knowledge building
The graduate students and teachers were equally engrossed with the research process as they identified the
role of inquiry in helping the children to develop their vocabulary, gain confidence as learners, and understand
how to build knowledge through questions and research. According to doctoral student Meadow Schroeder,
children shared ideas in class and then took them home to their parents where learning became a family affair.
Funding for the project came from the Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network (CLLRNet) of the
Network of Centres of Excellence (NCE), which fosters powerful partnerships between university, government and
industry. The research findings will be integrated into the development of new teaching programs.
McKeough’s research into how children’s minds, language and literacy develop includes a study on early
science knowledge with preschoolers. The research team included colleagues across departments at the
U of C and within other Canadian institutions. They analyzed commercially available science books targeted
to small children. The team incorporated selected texts in their project within day-care centres and worked
with the children to explore inheritability — helping them to identify those characteristics they inherited from
their family. McKeough believes it is critical that children learn science as a process of discovery — not as a
memorization of established facts.
“To participate in our culture now you have to understand scientific process and thinking,” she says. “You need
to be able to generate an informed opinion and understanding if you are to take a position — for example,
to vote for elected officials based on your stance.”
McKeough speaks frequently around the world and has contributed to the development of a comprehensive
reading program called Open Court Reading, which is used throughout North America. She is currently
collaborating with colleagues in Italy on children and adolescents’ use of narrative thought to interpret their
social world.
www.sraonline.com/
http://greatteachers.ucalgary.ca
University of Calgary Research in Action 2