Elementary School Students' Inquiry Activities Related to the Creation of Quadrupedal Passive Walking Paper Toys

Abstract

The new revised government course guidelines stipulate include the enhancement of autonomous, interactive and deep learning as a new condition. According to the guidelines, for example, linguistic activities, observation, experimentation, and project-based learning are required. Not only enhancing activities but also creating interest leads to “autonomous, interactive, and deep learning”. For this study, we focused on passive walking, which we applied to toys to foster children’s interest. In a previous study, we developed quadrupedal passive walking paper toys as a teaching material. further, we clarified these toy’s educational value and usage by analyzing the inquiry activities of university students. For this study, we examined the inquiry activities of 5^th grade students at an elementary school based on three dimensions: (1) motivation before learning, (2) the content of learning, and (3) interest after learning. The students made the toys and observed their walking motion; the toys were improved after the experiment. We administered a questionnaire survey to the students and their parents after the class. As for the survey responses, the respondents stated that the students carried out an experiment and improved the toys at home. The outcomes demonstrated that the toys attracted students’ interest, and they remained interested after the class.