Learning by Reading: Fostering Children’s Science Learning Through Storybooks

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

Although children’s storybook reading is associated with language and literacy gains (e.g. Uscianowski et al., 2020; see Bus et al., 1995 for a review), little work has specifically explored how storybooks can impact children’s early science learning. Because children cannot learn all scientific concepts through direct exploration, storybooks are an effective tool for delivering content about abstract ideas. This symposium presents data illustrating how storybooks can be used to foster children’s understanding of abstract ideas such as density, the scientific process and evolution. Paper 1 assessed four- and five-year-olds’ physical science learning (e.g., sinking and floating) from either realistic-fiction or explanatory-non-fiction books across three studies and found that children learn concepts equally well from realistic-fiction and explanatory books. Paper 2 examined how subtle language differences in a storybook about scientific achievement impacted four- and five-year-olds’ persistence during an impossible scientific task and found that children who heard about scientists’ struggles persisted longer on the science task than children who only heard about scientists’ successes. Paper 3 explored second graders’ ability to learn about natural selection from a read-aloud of a traditional print storybook compared to an animated screen-based version and found that children were able to learn this concept from a storybook intervention regardless of presentation format. The discussant for this symposium is an expert in children’s language development and has published work demonstrating how storybook interventions can enhance children’s early learning. Together, these papers provide evidence that storybooks are invaluable tools for supporting children’s early STEM education.

Sub Unit

• Social Cognition

Chairs

• Amanda S Haber, Fairfield University

• Sona Kumar, Boston University

Discussant

• Kathryn Anne Leech, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Individual Presentations

• Science Books: Does Genre Matter when Teaching Kindergarteners Physical Science Concepts? - Presenting Author: Vaunam Venkadasalam; Non-Presenting Author: Nicole Larsen, University of Toronto; Non-Presenting Author: Patricia A Ganea, University of Toronto

• The Struggle is Real: Boosting Children’s Persistence in STEM Through Storybook Reading - Presenting Author: Veronika Pilarova; Non-Presenting Author: Sona Kumar, Boston University; Non-Presenting Author: Amanda S Haber, Fairfield University; Non-Presenting Author: Kathleen H. Corriveau, Boston University

• Is Book Reading Always Best? Children can Learn Complex Scientific Explanations from Books or Animations - Non-Presenting Author: Sarah A Brown, Boston University; Non-Presenting Author: Samuel Ronfard, University of Toronto; Non-Presenting Author: Erin Doncaster, Boston University; Non-Presenting Author: Emma Pitt, Northeastern University; Non-Presenting Author: Angela Li, Boston University; Presenting Author: Deb Kelemen, Boston University