Storybooks as a Tool for Supporting Early Childhood Family STEM Learning

• In Event: Using Narratives to Create Engaging and Inclusive Engineering Experiences for Children and Families

Abstract

Purpose. [Project name-blinded for review] was an NSF-funded conference grant led by [organization] and [organization] with the goal of engaging early childhood reading, family learning, and informal STEM education (ISE) experts from across the country to better understand and advance current work related to the integration of storybooks and ISE for families with young children. The project focused on educators and researchers working with or studying family learning for preschool-age children (three to five years) using early childhood fiction books as a tool for engaging families in STEM topics and skills.

Theoretical background. There is growing interest in supporting opportunities for STEM learning for families before children enter kindergarten (Alexander et al., 2015; McClure et al., 2017; Morgan et al., 2016; Shwe Hadani & Rood, 2018). At this age, children’s storybooks are a ubiquitous learning resource, and one with huge potential to support STEM learning (Hassinger-Das et al., 2015; Hojnoski et al., 2014; Kelemen et al., 2014; Neuman & Kaefer, 2018). They are also a primary way that children learn about the world and engage in conversations with family members (Common Sense Media, 2013; Geerdts et al., 2016). A variety of active projects across the country are using fiction books and reading activities as avenues for STEM engagement with young children and families (Popov et al., 2017). However, there is almost no coordination among these groups to build on prior work, align research questions, or synthesizing results.

Methods and data sources. Over two years, the [project name] team coordinated a series of activities with researchers and educators across the country, including a national survey with 231 participants, an online forum with 156 professionals, and an in-person convening with 21 early childhood reading, family learning, and informal STEM education experts. Participants in each phase represented a broad range of learning contexts, professional roles, audience focus areas, and STEM discipline expertise. Results from each phase were analyzed iteratively to develop a deeper understanding of the state of the field. Survey responses and online forum discussions were summarized through descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis to identity emergent themes, resources, and questions. These findings were then used to develop a conceptual framework that was reviewed and revised through discussions at the in-person convening.

Results and Significance. This iterative process resulted in a series of recommendations for future work, with implications for how researchers and educators think about incorporating stories and narratives to support STEM engagement for families with young children. Convening participants challenged researchers and educators to rethink: 1) how stories are developed, including how families and scholars of color are represented and involved in the process of creating and selecting stories; 2) what we mean by stories, including connecting with written and oral story traditions and creating space for families to tell their own stories; 3) our relationships with families as key stakeholders throughout the development, implementation, and research process; and 4) how we measure success, including broadening our notion of STEM learning and connecting STEM and literacy.

Authors

• Scott Pattison, TERC

• Gina Navoa Svarovsky, University of Notre Dame

• Smirla Ramos, TERC