Poster #98 - Playful Learning Landscapes: Evaluating the impact of a community-focused, evidence-based intervention on Latine families’ STEM-language and interaction-quality

• In Event: Poster Session 17

Abstract

Informal learning experiences provide children with rich opportunities to learn and build important skills. However, access to informal learning spaces (e.g., libraries, museums) remains a challenge for marginalized and under-resourced communities. A new initiative called Playful Learning Landscapes (PLL) responds to this by integrating what we know from the science of learning with community-based participatory research to create environments that are joyful, culturally inclusive and accessible, and support learning. In the current project, we are implementing PLL with a predominantly Latine, Spanish-speaking community living in an under-resourced neighborhood. Our team worked closely with this community to co-design playful activities that will be installed at several spaces where families gather, including bus stops, a grocery store, and a park.

A primary goal of PLL is to support children’s science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and literacy learning by prompting conversations about these topics. Previous research implementing PLL provides evidence that sites with PLL yield interactions that reflect this goal. Specifically, PLL was found to produce higher quality conversations and engagement between caregivers and children and more discussion of STEM and literacy (Bustamante et al., 2020; Hassinger-Das et al., 2020; Ridge et al., 2014). In the current study, we utilize protocols established in prior work to investigate how families from our target community interact with PLL pre- and post-installation. Naturalistic observations code for the following: amount of adult and child content of language, levels of adult and child non-verbal engagement, number of conversational turns, adult communication style, and valence of the interaction.

Pre-test data (n = 20) was collected at a future PLL bus stop. Observations of caregiver-child interactions revealed that few conversations happened (conversational turns: M = 1.90; SD = 2.26). Adults and children discussed STEM-related content at different rates (see Figure 1), with few conversations about STEM-related topics observed. There was also little non-verbal interaction (see Figure 2). Family engagement was low to moderate (Low: 0.70, Moderate: 0.30, High: 0.00). Caregivers used a range of communication styles with their children (Mostly directive: 0.16; Neutral: 0.74; Follows child’s lead: 0.10). Finally, the valence of the interactions were primarily neutral (Very Negative: 0.00, Negative: 0.05, Neutral: 0.65, Positive: 0.30, Very Positive: 0.00).

PLL will be installed at this bus stop in October 2022 and post-intervention data will be collected in the 2 weeks following installation. Post-test data will reveal how PLL impacts our target outcomes. Additionally, our team is currently collecting pre-test data at two additional PLL sites (a grocery store and second bus stop) that will have post-intervention data collected following installation in November 2022. This study offers important information about how family interactions at various public spaces are impacted by PLL, revealing the efficacy of the PLL initiative. Moreover, this study is amongst the first to implement and evaluate PLL in a predominantly Latine, Spanish-speaking community.

Authors

• Annelise Pesch, Temple University
  Presenting Author

• Karlena D Ochoa, University of California - Irvine

• Vanessa Noemy Bermudez, University of California - Irvine

• Evelyn Santana, University of California-Irvine

• Julie Salazar, University of California - Irvine

• June Ahn, University of California Irvine

• Andres Sebastian Bustamante, University of California - Irvine

• Kathy A Hirsh-Pasek, Temple University