Report of the testing of the Teddymobil from 14 June
to 28 June 2004 in a pre-school and an after-school establishment in
Braunschweig, Germany
CONTENTS
1. The two test environments
2. The educational aims of the Teddymobil
3. What is expected of the staff
4. Results of the test periods and conclusions
5. Exchange of ideas: future developments
1. The two test environments
The Teddymobil was tested out in two establishments in
Braunschweig by students of the Berufsbildende Schulen VII who are qualifying
to become Erzieher (pre-school teachers and youth workers). It was taken to
the two establishments on 7 days between 14th June and 28th
June 2004. In the mornings it went to a kindergarten of 20 children aged from
3-6 years, and in the afternoons to a Hort, an after-school pre-youth group,
with 40 children aged from 6-12 years.
The students had the task of introducing both open/
unstructured, and structured sequences, that is to say entirely free play with
no input from adults as well as organised activities with aims consistent with
the opportunities the Teddymobil offered.
In both establishments the children were used to using
technical and experimental materials, so that the results are unlikely to
reflect an anxiety about technology or science. Furthermore the children in
both establishments come from a middle-class background, where most children
are well supported by their parents, who give time to their children´s
education, and encourage creativity, perseverance and understanding for the
world.
Before starting on the tests the students asked
themselves the following questions, to which they attempted to find answers:
- *is
the Teddymobil appropriate for these children?
- *is
it equally suitable for the entire age range?
- *does
it allow access to questions and answers of a technical nature?
- *what
further developments are possible?
- *
what elements are gender-specific?
2. The educational aims of the Teddymobil
The aims of the Teddymobil should be convergent with
the aims of early technical education. These include the encouragement of a
better understanding of the way the world works, and the scientific and
technical basis of much of what we see around us. They also include enhancing
sensory perception, the active creation of products and processes, the
development of appropriate behaviour (for example in issues of safety) and the
transference of knowledge and skills from the experiences thus gained.
In detail these aims can be broken down into the
following:
- *children
experience and seek explanations for technical and scientific phenomena
- (e.g.
the law of centrifugal force with the marble on the turntable)
*children become curious about additional uses of the
material and experiment accordingly
(e.g. building pictures out of a variety of metal
parts)
*children seek explanations for phenomena in their
daily lives
(e.g. the movement of air caused by the rotating
turntable)
*children use their imaginations, and create new ideas
(e.g. by making music with metal parts)
*children practise on real everyday materials (here
aluminium and metals) and use real everyday tools
(e.g. using the correct screwdriver with the correct
screws, or activating the car-jack)
*children compare experiences and results
(e.g. the turntable pictures)
*children learn to work together in teams on a common
task
(e.g. on the marble tower)
*children of both sexes learn about a range of
possible uses of the material
* children gain in self-confidence and in their own
abilities.
3. What is expected of the staff
One early result of the testing was the realisation
that leaving the children to play on or with the Teddymobil without help and
encouragement is not helpful at the beginning. Furthermore there is an
important role for adult staff in explaining and demonstrating safety matters.
The materials and tools cannot be used without some understanding of the
potential dangers and the methods needed to ensure safe handling. In particular
the correct use of the car-jack, the wheel-locks and the turntable need to be
clearly demonstrated. The staff themselves need to be very clear about these
functions beforehand.
At a later stage, however, children can (according to
their age and understanding) play by themselves with the Teddymobil, even
without adult supervision.
Because the children, encouraged by the Teddymobil to
ask questions of the staff, will expect answers from the adults around them,
the staff need themselves to be sure that their answers are correct as well as
being age-appropriate. This means that staff have to gain knowledge of
scientific and technical phenomena, if they do not already possess it, or have
at least to know how to help the child find the answer themselves. In many
circumstances helping the child to find the correct answer themselves is more
powerful than giving the right answer straightaway, but nevertheless the staff
need to know the answers to the likely questions themselves, and also need to
be able to demonstrate a knowledge of the everyday use of that knowledge. One
example might be to show that the same law of centrifugal force of the marble
on the turntable helps to dry the clothes in a washer-drier.
Staff must also develop a questioning model, to show
interest in what the children are experiencing, and also to help the children
to relate their experiences to the real world, and to compare them with those
of others. This can take the children into other areas of experience altogether,
whether in the scientific, technical or social fields.
4. Results of the test periods and conclusions
Throughout the children in both establishments reacted
with curiosity and showed interest in the Teddymobil. In neither establishment
could gender-specific involvement be noticed. Girls and boys used the materials
and tools equally, although there was a tendency for the girls to create
pictures on the turntable and to make things out of the metal parts, whereas
the boys were more likely to use the materials and tools as ends in themselves
rather than as the means to do something else.
All the children were quickly able to grasp the
opportunities the Teddymobil offered to experiment and to do things not planned
by the adults, for example making a wind-chime out of metal parts. Overall the
following key skills were observed to be promoted:
*curiosity and interest were awakened
*knowledge and experience were furthered
*creativity and ideas were encouraged
*fun and enjoyment were to be had.
It was the students´view that the materials and tools,
despite their hard, metallic quality, could indeed be seen as appropriate for
young children, if coupled with instructions and oversight by adults. All ages
found things to do, although there were significant age differences between the
activities carried out. The older children were not satisfied with merely using
a screwdriver, (as the younger ones often were) but needed to make more complex
constructions, such as the marble tower, in order to test out scientific and
technical assumptions.
The children learnt in particular about the principles
of centrifugal force from experiments with the turntable, and the principle of
the transfer of rotating force into lifting force with the car-jack.
Both boys and girls were equally interested in the
range of possibilities, and it may be that the fact that female students were
demonstrating the technology had a positive effect on the involvement of the
girls as their role models were female.
One very important conclusion reached by our testing
was that the Teddymobil is in essence a box to encourage creativity in the area
of technology, a stimulus rather than a complete product. The implication here
is that it must always be kept open-ended, and the temptation to refine it too
much should be avoided as that could take away from it its greatest strength. Without
the input from children, and their creativity, it is just a lifeless metal box.
What could not be tested was the long-term use of the
Teddymobil. It may be that much of the interest was generated by the newness of
the Teddymobil and for example the involvement of the press. Although good
experiences were had by the children, there were some signs that this might not
have lasted, without constantly new and changing additional functions or
materials. It might be important to decide whether the Teddymobil should always
be available or only be brought out for particular projects.
There were concerns about the bulkiness of the
Teddymobil, and the limitations caused by its weight especially in older
buildings with stairs. A view was expressed on more than one occasion that a
similar box in hard plastic with cheerful colours might be more suitable for
the younger children.
5. Exchange of ideas: future developments
a)At present the Teddymobil offers the following
possibilities:
Construction of objects or pictures on the flanks, by
screwing on extra parts.
The use of a car-jack
Changing of the wheels to legs and back again
Addition of a beacon light, perhaps best used for
role-play activities
Space inside with access holes from two sides
A turntable with varying speeds, to demonstrate
centrifugal force, wind creation, colour mixing and creative works of art.
Construction of conveyor belts, using cables and
bicycle inner tyres
Construction of a crane attached to the side
Construction of a marble slide attached to one or more
sides.
b) For the future we would recommend the following
additions:
Opportunities for magnets
A considerable increase in additional materials, such
as lengths of plastic, turning handles, conveyor-belt parts, all shapes and
sizes of metal and plastic parts and so on.
Installation of a vice
A broader range of all types and lengths of screws
An organisational principle for all additional
materials, so that it is easy to see what is missing when it is all put back
into the box after use.
6 July 2004
Author: Michael Geginat, teacher at BBS VII in
Braunschweig
Translation into English: Adrian Greenwood, teacher at
BBS VII Braunschweig
