Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore the concept of animal classification and students' perception selection in primary school. Surveys and interviews were used to achieve this purpose. The subjects were selected from eight schools in Taic hung and a total of 576 students from grades 1-6 completed questionnaires. Based on their responses, 36 students were selected for in-depth interviews.
The most significant findings are summarized as follows: (1) Most of the animals that primary school children can identify in their daily lives are mammals, with amphibians being the least identified. Students knew the names of these animals mainly from b ooks as well as their parents; (2) When primary school pupils are asked to classify animal pictures such as bats, whales, penguins, grebes, butterflies, salamanders, and spiders, the rate of error is higher than 85%; (3) Students with different background s classified the five classes of vertebrates and insects differently; (4) The reasons why primary school students classify the five classes of vertebrates and insects are very different from how experts would classify these animals; (5) The ways children make sense of the various pictures of animals are quite different. High-achieving students tend to use the combination of observing prototypes and obvious features; (6) The different visual stimulus-cards influenced pupils' classification of animals, howe ver, students did not appear to be familiar with the main features of each of the animals; (7) Students' ability of class inclusion does not improve cumulatively, and they have alternative conceptions on the criteria used for animal classification; and (8 ) Students are generally very good at observing, but their ability to provide reasons for their animal classification is quite varied.
Keywords: | primary school children; perception selection; conception of animal classification. |
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