Student Teachers’ Reflections on the Use of Drama in Education to Motivate Young Children’s Science Play

This study explored student teachers’ reflections on the use of drama in education (DIE) to motivate young children’s science play during a course, “creative science activity design for young children,” at a teacher development program in southern Taiwan. The participants comprised 21 student teachers who took the course taught by both researchers. Participants designed science play activities using DIE strategies and implemented the a for a group of preschool children. The data sources employed in this study were observations, interviews, and collected documents. The data were analyzed qualitatively. The findings revealed that the DIE strategies adopted by the student teachers included warm-up, improvisation, and story roleplaying. The results indicated that the student-teachers considered drama to have aroused the children’s motivation to engage in science play. Advantages and challenges relating to the application of DIE strategies in science play were presented. Suggestions for future implementation of and research on DIE strategies in science play are presented herein.