The Impact of Questions on Preschoolers’ Learning From Shared Book Reading Over Video Chat

• In Event: The Impact of Socially Interactive Technologies on Parent-Child Interactions and Young Children’s Learning

Abstract

During and even after the pandemic, video chat has been a crucial avenue for remote communication and learning for all ages, including children in early childhood (Dore et al., 2021). Video chat allows social interactions around content, which can be an important catalyst for young children’s learning (Troseth et al., 2006). Indeed, prior research has shown that shared book reading over video chat is as beneficial for preschoolers as reading in person (Gaudreau et al., 2020). However, it remains unclear what types of social interaction during video chat would maximize its instructional impact over time. Given that pedagogical questions asked by a knowledgeable person support preschoolers’ learning in an in-person setting (Yu et al., 2018; Daubert et al., 2020), this study examined the impact of question asking, particularly the presence and relevance of on-screen partner’s questions, on preschoolers’ learning from video chat. We hypothesized the positive effects of both the presence and relevance of questions on preschoolers’ learning outcomes over time.

The preliminary analyses were based on 55% of the final sample: 44 children (3-5 years; 23 boys and 21 girls) participated in a 30-min Zoom session where an on-screen adult read a storybook two times. The book included 5 novel objects and their labels and locations (Figure 1a). The presence of questions was manipulated by randomly assigning children to read the book either with questions (n = 24) or with statements (n = 20). Both the questions and statements were designed to highlight the labels (not the locations) of the novel objects. Each reading phase was followed by a word learning test and a location memory test (Figure 1b). These two tests were used to vary the relevance of questions. The reading phases were included to examine change over time. Children’s general vocabulary was measured using the NIH toolbox. Parents completed a 10-minute survey to report children’s demographics, development, and home media use.

Results showed that children’s word learning performance increased with age (b = 0.05, p = .007) and across trial (b = .64, p =.012). Also, children’s word learning performance was higher in the question than the statement condition (b = 0.78, p = .031). There were no significant differences in children’s location memory performance by age (b = 0.02, p =.337), trial (b = .16, p =.550), or condition (b = -0.12, p = .785). Our preliminary findings suggest that 4- and 5-year-old children learn new words and remember content from the storybook reading over video chat. Moreover, older children learn more words than younger children. Critically, children’s performance was higher when questions were asked than when statements were delivered. The preliminary results suggest that asking content-relevant questions may have the potential to be an effective instructional tool to support preschoolers’ learning of the intended lessons in an online learning environment, but we will continue data collection and further explore the role of moderators such as individual differences in child vocabulary, engagement during video chat, temperament, and technology use at home.

Authors

• Jisun Kim, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
  Presenting Author

• Koeun Choi, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University