Poster #9 - Spatial Thinking During Construction Activities: The Role of Story Contexts and Character Identity

• In Event: Poster Session 16

Abstract

Opportunities for children to engage in spatial thinking, including thinking about locations, shape, and sizes, can support spatial skill development and STEM learning (Verdine et al., 2014). Spatial thinking can be facilitated through construction activities. Additionally, children engage in more spatial thinking when construction activities are embedded within story contexts, such as “build a fence to keep animals out of a character’s yard” (Casey et al., 2008). Story contexts provide a meaningful reason for children to complete the construction, which engenders spatial thinking.

However, some story contexts may be more meaningful than others. For example, children may perceive stories with characters whose identities closely reflect their own as particularly relevant to their lives (Dore, 2022). Moreover, stories with characters who seem more like the children consuming them best facilitate children’s thinking and learning (Calvert et al., 2007). Therefore, we examined the association between character identities and children’s and parents’ spatial thinking during a construction activity embedded within a story context. The story character could either be the child engaging in the construction themselves (self-as-character) or a fantasy character.

Forty-nine, 5 – 10-year-old children and their parents were video recorded in a children’s museum exhibit completing a construction activity embedded within a story context. Twenty-six families visited the exhibit when the story context was to “build a party hat that stays on your head while dancing”, specifying that the main character was the child (self-as-character). Twenty-three families visited the exhibit when the story context was to “build a structure that helps a toy monster move safely between two locations”, specifying a fantasy character. To measure spatial thinking, we scored activity interactions for the number of up to 9 unique types of spatial concepts (e.g., locations, sizes, part-whole relations, and spatial comparisons) parents and children discussed (Ramey et al., 2017).

We analyzed differences in unique spatial concept scores based on the character’s identity in the provided story context. Children who completed a construction activity when the story specified self-as-character talked about more unique spatial concepts (M = 3.85, S.D. = 1.60) then children who completed the activity when the story specified a fantasy character (M = 2.87, S.D. = 1.18), t(47) = 2.41, p = .02. However, parents who completed a construction activity when the story specified self-as-character (M = 4.46, S.D. = 1.21) did not discuss more unique spatial concepts than the other parents did (M = 4.04, S.D. = 1.72), t(47) = .99, p = .33. Child age and gender were not associated with parents’ or children’s spatial thinking.

These findings suggest that story character types could affect children’s spatial thinking during construction activities embedded within a story context. When the story character is the child themselves, children may engage in more spatial thinking, which could be connected to children finding stories that reflect themselves particularly meaningful. Indeed, other story elements, including theme and content, could also contribute to these spatial thinking differences. Implications for the design of playful activities that can engender children’s spatial thinking will be discussed.

Authors

• Naomi Polinsky, Northwestern University
  Presenting Author

• Elena Fiegen

• Kaitlyn Hurka

• Catherine A. Haden, Loyola University Chicago

• David H. Uttal, Northwestern University