Leveraging mass media for playful learning: The development and evaluation of Sesame Street’s playful problem-solving curriculum

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

Evidence widely acknowledges that mass media supports children’s learning at scale across a variety of educational outcomes (Mares & Pan, 2013; Fisch & Truglio, 2001; Borzekowski, 2018; Kennedy, et al., 2022). Separately, there is a large body of evidence on the importance of play for young children’s healthy brain development – particularly where play is used as a vehicle for children’s developing social, cognitive, executive functioning, and language skills (Brooker & Woodhead, 2013; Kelly-Vance & Ryalls, 2008; Dowd & Thomsen, 2021; Singer, Golinkoff, & Hirsh-Pasek, 2006). This symposium will bring these two bodies of evidence together by highlighting the ways that mass media can support children’s problem-solving skills through playful learning. The first paper will provide a theoretical foundation for playful learning as a pedagogical approach, discussing how playful learning can be leveraged across diverse platforms to support both what and how children learn. The second paper will build on that, detailing the development and refinement of a mass media curriculum for Sesame Street Seasons 51-52 that focused on playful approaches to learning to foster children’s curiosity, critical thinking skills, and perseverance. This paper will include findings from formative research that assessed children’s understanding of stories during script development, and how research informed the final curriculum. The third paper will include findings from an evaluation of Seasons 51-52, designed to assess changes in children’s approaches to learning via a series of hands-on tasks. The presentation will include learnings from a measurement pilot, as well as findings from a forthcoming full-scale evaluation.

Sub Unit

• Technology, Media & Child Development

Chair

• Kim Foulds, Sesame Workshop

Discussant

• Jennifer M. Zosh, Penn State University, Brandywine

Individual Presentations

• Playful Learning as a Robust, Adaptable, Culturally Relevant Pedagogy to Foster Children’s 21st Century Skills - Presenting Author: Katelyn Fletcher, Temple University; Annelise Pesch, Temple University; Charlotte Wright; Gavkhar Abdurokhmonova, University of Maryland - College Park; Kathy A Hirsh-Pasek, Temple University

• Playful Problem Solving: Positive Approaches to Learning on Sesame Street - Presenting Author: Rosemarie Truglio, Sesame Workshop; Becca Seibert Nast, Sesame Workshop

• “I wonder, what if, let’s try”: Impact of Sesame Street’s playful learning curriculum on children’s problem solving - Presenting Author: Shalom M Fisch, MediaKidz; Kathy A Hirsh-Pasek, Temple University; Gavkhar Abdurokhmonova, University of Maryland - College Park; Lacy Davis, MediaKidz Research & Consulting; Nachum Fisch, MediaKidz Research & Consulting; Susan Fisch, MediaKidz Research & Consulting; Katelyn Fletcher, Temple University; Annelise Pesch, Temple University; Jennifer Tomforde, MediaKidz; Carolyn Volpe, MediaKidz Research & Consulting; Charlotte Wright