Poster #49 - Fostering Elaborative, STEM-Rich Conversations Through Tinkering and Storytelling

• In Event: Poster Session 14

Abstract

In this project, we are studying families’ conversational interactions as they engage in a tinkering activity at home. We are interested in whether and how connecting tinkering and storytelling might promote elaborative, STEM-rich parent-child conversations, as well as children’s STEM learning. Previous research suggests that both tinkering (e.g., Vossoughi & Bevan, 2014) and storytelling (e.g., Avraamidou & Osborne, 2009) can support young children’s STEM learning. Given this past work, we investigate whether inviting families to tell their own stories during tinkering could engender STEM-rich conversations. Additionally, because past work indicates that engagement in elaborative conversations during an event enhances children’s memory of that event (e.g., Hedrick et al., 2009), we also examine whether encouraging families to tell their stories could promote families’ engagement in elaborative conversation during tinkering. The idea that planning a story could facilitate families’ conversational interactions is supported by prior research suggesting that engaging in planning can foster interest and understanding during STEM-related activities (e.g., Stanford et al., 2021).

Data collection is ongoing, but thus far twenty-five 4- to 10-year-old children (Mage = 7.40, SD = 1.73; 9 girls) and their parents have been observed via Zoom. Based on parent report, 52% of the children were White, 12% Black, 12% Asian, 8% Latinx, and 16% mixed race/ethnicity. All families watched a video created by a children’s museum educator during the COVID-19 pandemic. The “Here-to-There” video invited families to build a 6-feet ramp that would allow them to move “something important” from here to there without dropping it. Before building, families were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: story-planning (n = 12) or no story-planning (n = 13). Those in the story-planning condition were asked to plan a story before building. Those in the no story-planning condition were asked to think and talk about their story as they worked together to build the ramp. Immediately after completing the tinkering activity, children were asked to report their tinkering experience to a researcher.

Families in the story-planning condition (M = 4.25, SD = .75) mentioned more engineering design process steps than those in the no story-planning condition (M = 3.00, SD = .82), F(1, 24) = 15.74, p = .001, during tinkering. Moreover, children in the story-planning group (M = 4.08, SD = .79) evidenced more engineering-related talk than those in the no story-planning group (M = 3.46, SD = 1.05) when reporting their tinkering experience to a researcher immediately after completing it. Coding of the style of families’ conversational interactions is ongoing; thus far families in the two conditions engage in similar amounts of elaborative talk (Ms = 3.40 and 3.00; based on a 5-point scale).

Overall, our results suggest that planning a story can foster engagement and learning in informal settings. Oral storytelling is a common practice in many cultural communities; therefore, designing STEM learning experiences that involve storytelling is a promising way to advance STEM learning opportunities for children from diverse backgrounds. We will discuss the implications of our work for designing such experiences.

Authors

• Maria Marcus, Roosevelt University
  Presenting Author

• Graciela Solis, Loyola University Chicago

• Shelby Sellars, Roosevelt University

• Catherine A. Haden, Loyola University Chicago