There is growing interest in stories as potentially powerful tools for science learning. In this mini-review article, we discuss theory and evidence indicating that, especially for young children, listening to and sharing stories with adult caregivers at home can make scientific ideas and inquiry practices meaningful and accessible. We review recent research offering evidence that stories presented in books can advance children’s science learning.
As part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments, the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program funds innovative resources for use in a variety of settings. Informal STEM learning opportunities are often rare in rural locations where the early childhood education system is also under-resourced. Through partnerships with educational researchers, early math educators, pediatric health experts, and pediatric clinics, this project will develop and study a new opportunity for informal math learning. The project will work with pediatric clinics that serve rural immigrant families who are racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse. The project leverages the high levels of trust many caregivers have in their child’s pediatrician to improve math learning during critical early years. This project will build on a previous program where physician text messages to caregivers supported youth literacy development. In this instance the project will support caregivers’ math interactions with their 3- and 4-year-olds to cultivate children's math knowledge and skills. The text messaging program will be grounded in research in child development, mathematics learning, parenting practices, and adult behavior change. Texts will also provide caregiver supports for how to engage their children in mathematical activates in their everyday lives and provide information about the important skills children are developing. Text messages will be co-developed with caregiver input, and focus on content underlying mathematical development such as Number Sense, Classification and Patterning, Measurement, Geometry, and Reasoning. Caregivers will receive text messages from their pediatric clinics three times a week for eight months. For example, three related texts supporting Number Sense include: “FACT: Kids enjoy counting and it prepares them for K! Mealtimes are a fun time to practice counting objects;” “TIP: At a meal, say: Can you count all the cups on the table? All the plates? What else can you count? (Forks) Tell them: Great job!” and “GROWTH: You are helping kids to count & get ready for K. At the park, ask: How many bikes are there? How many birds? Count together & find out!” Throughout the planning and implementation phases of the project the team will work closely with early education math experts, key advisors, and caregivers to ensure the text messaging program is tailored to meet the cultural, linguistic, and contextual needs of rural caregivers and children.
The project will research impacts of the text messaging program on children, caregivers, and clinical staff. First, the project will investigate the impact of the texting program on children through a randomized trial, and pre-and-post measures of early childhood math skills and abilities. Second, using interviews at baseline and in a 9-month follow-up, the project will study the texting program’s impact on caregivers’ perceptions regarding the importance of math learning for young children. Third, the project will explore the impact of the text messaging program on health professionals’ understanding of math learning in early childhood by collecting qualitative data and assessing attitudes about the clinic’s role in supporting early math. Caregivers and clinic staff will also participate in focus groups to better understand impacts for each of these groups. The project will reach 1000 families, who will be randomly assigned to treatment or control groups through block-randomization, stratified by caregiver language and child’s age. This parent-informed project will build evidence toward new approaches to promoting early math in the pediatric clinic, an informal environment that can reach all families and can leverage innovative technology. Findings will be shared widely though a communication and engagement plan that includes children, caregivers, physicians and clinic staff, informal STEM educators, researchers, and policy makers.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Lisa ChamberlainSusanna LoebJaime Peterson
This project is funded by the EHR Core Research (ECR) program, which supports work that advances fundamental research on STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM workforce development. It responds to continuing concerns about racial and social inequities in STEM fields that begin to emerge in the early childhood years. The overarching goal of the project is to identify cultural strengths that support early science learning opportunities among Spanish-speaking children from immigrant Latin American communities, a population that is traditionally underrepresented in STEM educational and career pursuits. Building on a growing interest in the ways stories can promote early engagement in and understanding of science, this project will investigate the role of oral and written stories as culturally relevant and potentially powerful tools for making scientific ideas and inquiry practices meaningful and accessible for young Latinx children. Findings will reveal ways that family storytelling practices can provide accessible entry points for Latinx children's early science learning, and recommend methods that parents and educators can use to foster learning about scientific practices that can, in turn, increase interest and participation in science education and fields.
The project will advance knowledge on the socio-cultural and familial experience of Latinx children that can contribute to their early science learning and skills. The project team will examine the oral story and reading practices of 330 Latinx families with 3- to 5-year-old children recruited from three geographic locations in the United States: New York, Chicago, and San Jose. Combining interviews and observations, the project team will investigate: (1) how conversations about science and nature occur in Latinx children's daily lives, and (2) whether and to what extent narrative and expository books, family personal narratives, and adivinanzas (riddles) engender family conversations about scientific ideas and science practices. Across- and within-site comparisons will allow the project team to consider the immediate ecology and broader factors that shape Latinx families’ science-related views and practices. Although developmental science has long acknowledged that early learning is culturally situated, most research on early STEM is still informed by mainstream experiences that largely exclude the lived experiences of children from groups underrepresented in STEM, especially those who speak languages other than English. The proposed work will advance understanding of stories as cultural resources to support early science engagement and learning among Latinx children and inform the development of high quality, equitable informal and formal science educational opportunities for young children.
Early childhood is a critical time for developing foundational knowledge, skills, and interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). For that reason, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) places a great priority on developing early childhood STEM content, especially through its television shows that are watched by over 60% of young children in the United States. Research suggests that adding in-the-moment interaction to television watching promotes learning and engagement. Toward this end, researchers from the University of California, Irvine and PBS KIDS have prototyped interactive versions of science shows that children view on internet-connected devices while they communicate with the main character powered by an AI conversational agent. Pilot studies show that when children watch these new interactive videos with the main character pausing periodically to ask probing questions about the learning goals of the episode and following up with appropriate responses, they are more engaged and learn more about science, with heightened benefits for children who speak languages other than English at home. Based on these early results, in this Innovations in Development project the research team will develop, test and produce publicly available conversational episodes for two PBS KIDS television shows, one focused on science and the other on computational thinking.
The project will iteratively study and develop six conversational videos with novel forms of support for children, including extended back-and-forth conversation that builds upon a child's responses, visual scaffolding that facilitates verbal communication, and bilingual language processing so that children can answer in English or Spanish. The conversational videos will be evaluated in both lab-based and home settings. The lab-based study will involve 600 children ages 3-7 in a predominantly low-income Latino community in Southern California, in which researchers compare children’s learning and engagement when watching the conversational videos with three other formats: (1) watching the non-interactive broadcast version of the video; (2) watching the video with pseudo-interaction, in which the main character asks questions and gives a generic response after a fixed amount of time but can’t understand what the child says; or (3) watching the broadcast version of the video with a human co-viewer who pauses the video and asks questions. The home-based study will involve 80 families assigned to watch either the non-interactive or interactive videos as many times as they want over a month at home. In both the lab-based and home studies, pre- and post-tests will be used to examine the impact of video watching on science and language learning, and log data will be used to assess children’s verbalization and engagement while watching. Following the home study, the six videos will be further refined and made available for free to the public through the PBS KIDS apps and website, which are visited by more than 13 million users a month. Beyond providing engaging science learning opportunities to children throughout the country, this study will yield important insights into the design, usability, feasibility, and effectiveness of incorporating conversational agents into children’s STEM-oriented video content, with implications for extending this innovation to other educational media such as e-books, games, apps, and toys.
This Innovations in Development project is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Mark WarschauerSilvia LovatoAndres BustamanteAbby JenkinsYing Xu
In order for children to identify with STEM fields, it is essential that they feel there is a place within STEM for individuals “like them.” Unfortunately, this identification is difficult for Hispanic/Latine youths because of lack of representation and even stereotyping that is widespread in educational institutions in the United States. Some research has been done, though, that suggests there is promise in understanding the ways that parents help children see themselves as “STEM people” in spite of these obstacles. Building on this work, we present some of our own research on the experiences
For at-risk children who cannot attend preschool, accessing science activities depends almost entirely on parents—but many parents have limited skills for supporting such learning. PBS station WGBH has recently launched a series of free family apps based on the Emmy Award-winning preschool science series, PEEP and the Big Wide World. The apps were developed to be used jointly by parent and child for a shared learning experience. Available on Google Play and the App Store in both Spanish and English, PEEP Family Science apps cover the topics of shadows, sound, color, and ramps, respectively.
To engage parents and young children in exploring science together, media producers from WGBH (Boston’s public media station) and researchers from Education Development Center (EDC) collaborated with two home-visiting organizations—Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY USA) and AVANCE—to design and test PEEP Family Science, an app-based intervention with science-focused digital media resources and associated supports for diverse, low-income families. Both organizations target families whose children do not attend preschool. These home visiting organizations play a unique
Science television shows are an important source of informal learning and enrichment for preschool-aged children. However, one limitation of television programming is that it is largely a one-way, non-interactive medium. Research suggests that children learn best through active engagement with content, and that parents can make TV watching more interactive by co-viewing and talking with their children. However, many parents and other adults may lack the time or experience and comfort with science language and content to provide critcial just-in-time support for their children. This study seeks to take advantage of recent advances in artificial intelligence that now allow children to enjoyably interact with automated conversational agents. The research team will explore whether such conversational agents, embedded as an on-screen character in a science video, can meaningfully interact with children about the science content of the show by simulating the benefits of co-viewing with an adult. If successful, the project could lay the foundation for a new genre of science shows, helping transform video watching into more interactive and engaging learning experiences. This project is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments. This includes providing multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences, advancing innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments, and developing understandings of deeper learning by participants.
This project will develop interactive videos incorporating a conversational agent in three 11-minute episodes of a future children's animated television program. The videos will enable children to speak with the main character of the show as the character solves everyday science mysteries, thus priming children to engage in observation, prediction, pattern finding, and problem solving through scaffolded conversation. This study will be carried out in two iterative cycles with the goal of developing and testing the embedded conversational function for each episode. In each cycle, the project team, which includes experts in children's TV production, as well as educational and HCI researchers will develop the storyboard and conversation prompts and follow-ups, create animated videos based on the revised script, and create a mobile application of the interactive video integrated with the conversational agent. Field testing with 10 children will be conducted to iteratively improve the embedded conversational function. In the pilot testing stage, a controlled study will be conducted with 30 children in each group (N=120): 1) watching the episode with the embedded conversational function; 2) watching the episode with a human partner carrying out the dialogue in the script rather than the virtual character; 3) watching the episode with pseudo-interaction, in which the animated character asks questions but does not attempt to understand or personally respond to children's answers; and 4) watching the episode with no dialogue. Data collected from the experiments will be used to examine whether and in what ways use of a conversational agent affects children's engagement, attention, communication strategies, perceptions, and science learning, and whether these effects vary by children's age, gender, socioeconomic status, language background, and oral language proficiency in English. The project will provide a comprehensive evaluation of the feasibility and potential of incorporating conversational agents into screen media to foster young children's STEM learning and engagement.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Mark WarschauerDaniel WhitesonSara DeWittAndres BustamanteAbby Jenkins
Ruff Family Science is a project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) that aims to foster joint media engagement and hands-on science exploration among diverse, low-income parents and their 4- to 8-year-old children. Building on the success of the PBS series FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman, the project leverages FETCH’s funny and charismatic animated host, along with its proven approach to teaching science, to inspire educationally disadvantaged families to explore science together. The project is utilizing a research and design process to create resources that meet the needs of families
The Child Trends News Service (CTNS) was created to report on new research about child development, and broaden the public’s access to information that can inform their parenting decisions. CTNS features this new research and research-based parenting practices in video news reports in both English and Spanish. While CTNS reporting is relevant to all parents, it also focuses on issues of specific interest to Latino parents regarding their children—the fastest-growing group of children in the United States.
CTNS is a collaboration between the Child Trends Hispanic Institute, a Child Trends
As part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments, the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program funds innovative research, approaches, and resources for use in a variety of settings. In this Innovations and Development project, Child Trends, in collaboration with Ivanhoe Broadcast News, will expand the reach of the Child Trends News Service, and rigorously evaluate its impact on viewers. The News Service aims to build the public's knowledge of, and appreciation for, social science research and to encourage adoption of research-informed parenting practices associated with positive child development--particularly among Latino parents. First produced in 2017 through a NSF proof of concept grant, the Child Trends News Service covers actionable, child-focused, social science research. By featuring this research on local TV news, the project expands access to evidence-based parenting recommendations. As of February 2018, 89 stations had subscribed to the News Service, including eight stations in the top 25 Latino-serving TV markets that reach 38% of all Hispanic TV Households in those 25 markets. This project is a response to the challenges faced by U.S. children, of whom more than one in five live in poverty. The focus on Latino parents is in response Latinos' increasing share of all children, and that Latino children are disproportionately poor, in comparison to their peers. The project will examine the impact of the News Service on parents who view the news reports in their homes, as well as Latino parents viewing the News Service as part of their participation in the Abriendo Puertas (Opening Doors) community-based parenting program. This research will contribute to the knowledge base of what we know about how people access and use science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) information across settings.
The overarching aim of this project is to leverage commercial television news to reach populations who have historically been underrepresented in STEM education and careers. The goals of the project are to:
1. Build and manage an interdisciplinary collaborative, including news media professionals, researchers, practitioners in organizations serving at-risk families, and experts in STEM communications and Latino studies.
2. Leverage mass media news outlets to deliver social science research on children to at-risk populations, with a focus on reaching Latino parents.
3. Advance the field of informal STEM learning by exploring how the public interacts with actionable research on child development to inform their knowledge, attitudes and behaviors.
4. Expand the reach and application of the news products through strategic outreach to other stakeholders in the child development field including programs serving under-served families.
To accomplish these goals, the project will further strengthen an Advisory Panel to inform content development, study design, interpretation of findings, dissemination of study results, and the transition of the project after the NSF grant period. The project will continue to provide eight (both in English and Spanish) stories each month to TV stations and strategically grow the reach in top Latino markets. The editorial process will be informed by surveys of Latino parents to identify topics of interest. Through a random-assignment impact study with local TV news audiences from diverse racial/ethnic groups, the project will evaluate the impact of the News Service. The project will use formative research methods to refine messaging and examine the potential for repurposing the videos through a parenting program for Latino parents.
The Child Trends News Service seeks broader impacts in three areas: increasing the public's scientific literacy and engagement with science and technology; increasing partnerships between academia, industry, and others; and improving the well-being of individuals in society.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.