Exploring the Experiential Origins of Scientific Literacy

• In Event: Parent-Child Conversations as a Mechanism for Cognitive Development

Abstract

Achievement gaps in science are evident early in the elementary school years (Curran & Kellog, 2016). Understanding the origins of these disparities is crucial to national efforts to promote diverse participation and engagement in STEM fields. In line with this goal, our longitudinal work focuses on whether and how early experiences relate to emergent scientific literacy skills.

As part of a larger study, 153 children from diverse backgrounds (30% Hispanic, 13% African-American, 28% mothers with no more than a high school degree) were evaluated at three (M = 3.41), four (M = 4.58), and five (M = 5.43) years of age. Potentially relevant early experiences were measured through parent self-reports on the amount of science-related materials at home, and the frequency with which they engage in science-related activities. In order to evaluate the quality of interactions surrounding these materials and activities, we also observed parent contributions to science play activities in the lab and at a museum. Following work on the importance of explanations in supporting information-seeking behavior and learning (e.g., Fender & Crowley, 07; Frazier et al., 09; Legare, 12), we coded the frequency with which parents explained scientific phenomenon, as well as how often they invited their children to produce their own explanations. Scientific literacy was measured using the Lens on Science (Greenfield, 2010), which adaptively assesses knowledge in the domains of life, earth/space and physical/energy, as well as understanding of science ‘process skills’ (e.g., observing, questioning, experimenting) in a digital forced choice format.

Multiple regressions including all of the above variables, reveal that the frequency with which parents invited their 3-year-old children to explain during science-related activities was related to Lens on Science scores at both 3 (B = 1.933 p = .015) and 4 (B = 1.830, p = .042) years of age. The frequency of home science activities was related to Lens on Science scores at 4 (B = .115, p = .006) and 5 years of age (B = .080, p = .016).

Acknowledging the limitations of correlational designs, and the need to consider other child specific factors (e.g., cognitive skills) in more complex models, these results support two tentative conclusions. First, engaging very young children in science-related activities might be more important than providing them with science-related materials in supporting their early scientific literacy. This makes intuitive sense in that children of this age likely will have limited capacity to capitalize on scientific materials on their own, and early scientific learning might well be most accessible in the context of everyday materials and activities (e.g., block play, bathing, cooking). Second, encouraging children to explain scientific phenomenon in their own words might be more powerful than providing them with pre-formulated explanations in supporting early scientific literacy. More broadly, this work suggests that meaningful and potentially malleable individual variability in scientific literacy might be emerging even before children begin formal education, and is therefore consistent with an early intervention strategy for addressing achievement gaps in this domain.

Authors

• Amy E Booth, Vanderbilt University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Catherine A. Haden, Loyola University Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author

• Margaret Shavlik, Vanderbilt University
  Presenting Author