An Investigation of Hand-Drawn Representations of Rivers by Fifth-Grade Students in Greek Elementary Schools

This paper is part of a wider study and reflects an attempt to explore the cognitive representations that Greek pupils in the 5th grade of elementary school have, as they emerge from the freehand drawing of rivers. An attempt was made to explore the extent to which the cognitive representation skills of school pupils are associated with real images of space and the extent to which intervention by the teacher who presents the structure of a river emphasizing on how it is formed can contribute to an improvement in the drawings made. Two groups of pupils ( , ) took part in this study. They were taught one of two parallel lesson plans, to create representations relating to the concept of river. This was followed by an analysis of the drawings and the pre- and postteaching interviews ( /group). The results indicate that pupils perceive the differences between reality and how it is conveyed in images, and they reproduce stereotypical models of rivers presented in schoolbooks without using complex structures to represent them. In addition, it was clear how encouraging use of children’s mental maps can be not only in revising existing teaching theories but also in building new ones. 1. Introduction Although several studies have been conducted concerning school pupils’ ideas about the concept of “river” and how teachers can investigate those ideas, there is a wide range of research methodologies available which teachers could use to deepen school pupils’ thoughts and ideas on the topic [1]. One research methodology which is not widespread but which provides valuable information involves exploring school pupils’ ideas through the drawings they make. Hayes et al. [2] have shown that in science-related classes which include depictive models, pupils “are happy to convey the concepts as images.” Conveying concepts through drawings is also a useful, alternative form of expression for children who have difficulty in expressing their ideas verbally [3]. Some pupils more easily convey concepts through drawings rather than through written descriptions. Drawings can be used by teachers in various activities in order to explore pupils’ understanding of the Science. In the educational sector, this is not the first time that such an approach has been attempted. Studies by Goodnow and Levine [4], Glenn et al. [5], and Dove [6] all examined drawings by pupils that featured rivers. The images created by school pupils were investigated, as was the question of how pupils oriented the river on the page. The conclusion was that pupils usually tend to draw the river from left to