Puppets research in the UK

The PUPPETS: Talking Science - Engaging Science project explored the use of puppets to engage and motivate children and promote conversations which help their learning in science. Puppets are used with primary school children to capture their interest, stimulate their thinking about science, challenge their ideas and model learning conversations. The Nuffield Foundation provided funding for the research.

The research timescale was:

2003-04: Pre-pilot phase with Year 4 undergraduate student teachers at Manchester Metropolitan University.
Summer 2004: Pilot phase with teachers in Manchester and London.
Autumn 2004 - spring 2005: Main research phase.
2004-05: Additional data from Year 4 undergraduate student teachers at Manchester Metropolitan University and from PGCE primary student teachers at Oxford Brookes University.
Summer 2005: Research findings available.

Findings from the research

Brief Summary of findings from the main research phase:

Where puppets were used in science lessons there was:

• an increase in children’s use of argumentation and a decrease in their use of recall responses. There were more opportunities for children to develop their thinking about science in puppets lessons.
• an increase in the time that children used talk involving reasoning and a decrease in the time that they talked about practical and procedural matters. There were more opportunities for children to develop their thinking about science in puppets lessons.
• an increase in the teachers’ use of reasoning questions and a decrease in their use of non-reasoning questions. The teachers’ questioning style created more opportunities for thinking in the puppets lessons.
• an increase in the teachers’ use of argumentation and a decrease in the extent to which they gave information to children. The teachers’ interaction with the children created more opportunities for engagement and thinking in the puppets lessons. Most of this increase is attributed to argumentation generated by the puppets.
• an increase in the teachers’ use of story and narrative and an increase in the extent to which teachers offered encouragement. Both of these changes in teacher behaviour generated a more positive environment for learning in science lessons.