Early STEM in and out of the classroom: Perspectives from Parents and other Caregivers

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Wednesday 1:45pm
  In Poster Session: Supporting Sensemaking in Science Teaching and Learning

Abstract

Early childhood is an important time for children to develop interest in STEM
and foundations for scientific reasoning (e.g. Dou et al, 2019; Morgan et al., 2016).
Yet, STEM is often deprioritized in early education (National Academies Report, 2022). Longstanding research suggests elementary educators may deprioritize STEM due to limited confidence in their own STEM abilities (e.g. Baxter et al., 2013; Catalano et al., 2019) and/or pressures to prioritize early literacy (Marshall et al. 2022). Growing research suggests that parents also may deprioritize supporting STEM - with similar factors playing a role (e.g. Sonnenschein 2022; Berkowitz et al., 2021). The current work considered parent perspectives STEM learning in school, and on their role in supporting their children’s STEM learning.

Author

• Emily Anne Lyons, Springfield College