Michael AllenKingston University · Education
Michael Allen
PhD
About
12
Publications
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147
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Citations since 2017
Introduction
Skills and Expertise
Publications
Publications (12)
In this exploratory study a sample of 20 four year-olds took part in structured interviews in order to assess their biological knowledge of how the human body processes a food that they perceived to be fattening. There were two main outcomes to the study. First, the sample demonstrated knowledge of the digestive processes of ingestion, digestion/di...
Aspects of preschoolers’ ecological understandings were explored in a cross-age, quantitative study that utilised a sample of seventy-five 3-5 year-old children. Specifically, their concepts of feeding relationships were determined by presenting physical models of three-step food chains during structured interviews. A majority of children, particul...
There has been a dearth of published research exploring the scientific ideas that young children construct, particularly in prestigious periodicals in the science education genre. The current article discusses the reasons behind this lack of prominence, and suggests ways forward that may link work from the field of developmental psychology with the...
The study investigated early years teachers’ understanding and use of graphic symbols,
defined as the visual representation(s) used to communicate one or more “linguistic”
concepts, which can be used to facilitate science learning. The study was conducted in
Cyprus where six early years teachers were observed and interviewed. The results
indicate t...
Although taxonomic proficiency is a prerequisite for understanding ideas central to biology, previous research has established that learners frequently misclassify animals by not following the tenets of accepted taxonomic rubrics. This has immediate relevance with the recently revised English National Curriculum now requiring concepts of animal cla...
This paper describes a randomised educational experiment (n = 47) that examined two different teaching methods and compared their effectiveness at correcting one science misconception using a sample of trainee primary school teachers. The treatment was designed to promote engagement with the scientific concept by eliciting emotional responses from...
Questionnaire and interview findings from a survey of three Year 8 (ages 12–13 years) science practical lessons (n = 52) demonstrate how pupils' data collection and inference making were sometimes biased by desires to confirm a personal theory. A variety of behaviours are described where learners knowingly rejected anomalies, manipulated apparatus,...
Pupils' expectation-related errors oppose the development of an appropriate scientific attitude towards empirical evidence and the learning of accepted science content, representing a hitherto neglected area of research in science education. In spite of these apparent drawbacks, a pedagogy is described that encourages pupils to allow their biases t...
Current school science curricula attempt to reflect contemporary constructivist-provisionalist related epistemologies as accepted by professional science. It is argued that conversely, the effect of science education is the creation of pupils holding naïve-realist epistemological beliefs, largely inductivist-positivist absolutists who chase an irre...
Projects
Projects (2)
Recent data collected by our research team indicated that significant proportions of year 6 children were susceptible to pseudoscientific fallacies that challenge the existence of anthropogenic climate change. There were statistically significant links between children's susceptibility to these fallacies, and the same children's poor understanding of National Curriculum science. The current project further explores these links, with a view to improving children's understanding of National Curriculum science, so enhancing the possibility of ultimately rejecting climate change fallacies.
Preschool children's concepts of simple food chains.
