Poster #115 - Moderators of STEM Learning from a Digital Game: Preschoolers' Knowledge of Touchscreen Mechanics

• In Event: 2-002 - Special Poster Session 05 with Continental Breakfast Reception
  In Poster Session: PS 05 - Interdisciplinary Section

Integrative Statement

Introduction: Certain individual characteristics (e.g., experience with the medium) increase the likelihood a child will understand educational lessons from television (Fisch, 2000; Piotrowski, 2010). This focus has not been fully extended to interactive media, although studies suggest that the likelihood toddlers will learn from apps depends partly on individual characteristics such as working memory and prior experience with digital media (Kirkorian & Choi, 2016; Choi et al., 2018). A key individual difference in learning from digital media may be children’s ability to manipulate the screen, or their knowledge of touchscreen mechanics, which increases with age (Cristia & Seidl, 2015; Hiniker et al., 2015). The goal of this study was to assess associations between prior knowledge of touchscreen mechanics and children’s learning from interactive media. Motivated by findings that early science skills predict future achievement (Morgan et al., 2016) this work focused on determining the extent to which preschool-aged children’s learning of STEM concepts from interactive technology was moderated by individual cognitive and motor skills, including knowledge of touchscreen mechanics.

Method: Study 1 consisted of a content analysis of apps categorized as “Early Science” (N=19) in the Apple App Store. This content analysis revealed a range of touchscreen mechanics used in science apps (see Table 1). In Study 2, children played a popular digital science-learning game focused on patterns of change in the natural world. Children (3.0-5.9 years, N=55) were pre-and post-tested for pertinent science knowledge. The game and the pre/posttest assessments required children to place images in a sequence (e.g., flower blooming). Children also completed tasks to assess working memory (imitating block-tapping sequence), fine motor skill (stringing beads), and touchscreen mechanics (playing app that was created based on Study 1).

Hypotheses: We predicted that children demonstrating higher prior knowledge of touchscreen mechanics would have greater game success (measured by how quickly they completed the game) and higher learning outcomes (measured by post-test scores) from the science learning game, even when controlling for individual characteristics (e.g., age, working memory, fine motor).

Results: Table 1 depicts the frequency of touchscreen mechanics found in children's science apps in Study 1. In Study 2, children performed an average of 7 out of 9 touchscreen mechanics (SD=1.72, [2-9]). As predicted, children’s touchscreen mechanics abilities increased with age [R2=.40, p<.00], particularly for mechanics that required coordination of two fingers (Figure 1). Furthermore, touchscreen mechanics was a significant predictor of science posttest [R2=.58, p<.00], even after controlling for age and other covariates (e.g., pretest, working memory, fine motor).

Conclusion: As hypothesized, children’s familiarity with touchscreen mechanics predicted learning gains, perhaps because knowledge of touchscreen mechanics reduces cognitive load during game play. Our findings suggest touchscreen mechanics as a potential mechanism underlying associations between prior experience with and learning from digital media, highlighting a possible area for intervention to reduce participation gaps with respect to digital media. By enhancing knowledge about child factors moderating touchscreen learning, these findings expand the potential of interactive media as an educational tool and provide new information about children’s touchscreen usage abilities.

Authors

• Elizabeth Skora Horgan, University of Wisconsin-Madison
  Presenting Author

• Heather Kirkorian, University of Wisconsin-Madison
  Non-Presenting Author