Teaching Physics Concepts in Primary Education: Evidence from Hands-on Experiments, Inquiry, and Digital Technologies

Research at the primary education level is still scattered and overshadowed by studies undertaken at the secondary and higher education levels, despite the fact that primary education is gradually coming to be recognized as an essential stage for the development of core physics concepts. The purpose of this Mini Review is to assess the impact that three key instructional approaches, hands-on experiments, inquiry-based learning, and digital and robotics-based tools, have on conceptual comprehension in elementary physics. This Mini Review provides a synthesis of recent evidence on these different approaches. The findings indicate that young students come to school having solid intuitive conceptions that have been sculpted by perception and common language, as well as by exposure to narrative forms such as traditional fairy tales that embed non-scientific explanations of natural phenomena. These ideas can be found in a variety of domains, including force, motion, heat, temperature, energy, and light. It is not enough for instruction to just place an emphasis on involvement in order to bring about conceptual change; rather, effective designs make student thinking clear, provide organized inquiry sequences, and enable representational transformations. Comparative evidence demonstrates that simple hands-on apparatus can promote conceptual gains when prediction, explanation, and reflection are embedded, while virtual labs and robotics offer unique affordances for visualization and control of variables, although they require strong pedagogical scaffolding. Within the scope of this study, cross-cutting difficulties pertaining to language, cognitive load, and assessment techniques are brought to light. Additionally, research gaps pertaining to longitudinal development, transfer of understanding, and the incorporation of digital technologies in early-years science are identified. The implications for the design of curricula and the preparation of teachers are examined, with a particular emphasis on the development of early physics education that is conceptually cohesive.