Researcher Inside a Diorama: A Digital Educational Experiment in Everyday Practices

Young children develop conceptual understandings in science from early infancy and through involvement in various institutions and activity settings. Daily interactions with peers, families, care givers, early childhood educators and teachers create conditions for young children to enhance their conceptual learning and theoretically model their understandings. However, not enough is understood about how children 5 years and under use theoretical modelling to represent their thinking in science. Recognising this gap necessitates research that applies suitable tools and, a methodology to capture and understand young children’s scientific concept formation and theoretical modelling. This chapter will discuss the use of digital methodologies and multiple strategies initiated during the Covid19 crisis. These include dioramas, drawing, and three-dimensional modelling in an educational experiment to gain deeper insights into the theoretical modelling of young children in early childhood settings involving the scientific concept of light. Importantly, the advantageous use of digital tools will be explained as a method enabling researchers to actively apply other creative tools and to participate in the children’s activity settings towards the acquisition of authentic data for analysis.