STEM Books: Their Quality and Impact on Preschool-Aged Children’s STEM Learning

• In Event: STEM Storybooks as a Platform for STEM Learning

Abstract

Individual differences exist in STEM knowledge early in childhood, impacting school readiness and academic achievement (Duncan et al., 2007; Verdine et al., 2017). Shared book reading of STEM books is a means of acquiring early STEM knowledge. However, it is unknown whether STEM books are structured in ways that align with cognitive learning principles and how children’s learning from books varies based on alignment. We bridge this gap by: 1) conducting a corpus analysis to identify how STEM books vary in their alignment with learning principles; and 2) investigating how variations in books impact preschool-aged children’s STEM learning.

To align with cognitive learning principles, books should (1) provide Support for encoding facts to compensate for children’s low working memory (Cowan, 2014); and (2) present Demand for children’s active engagement to accommodate children’s underdeveloped deliberate memory strategies (Courage & Cowan, 2009). In Study 1, we conducted a corpus analysis of 52 common preschool-aged children’s STEM books. Each book sentence was coded for whether it provided Support for encoding by elaborating on facts such as by providing examples or presenting analogies and antonyms. Each sentence was also coded for whether it provided Demand for active recall by posing questions or including interactive prompts. We conducted a cluster analysis and found that most books (61%) were characterized by low Support and low Demand. The minority of books were characterized by high Support and low Demand (27%) or high Support and high Demand (12%, Figure 1). This suggests that preschool-aged children’s STEM books do not align well with learning principles and young children may have difficulty encoding and actively processing the books’ facts.

In Studies 2 and 3, we investigated how variations in STEM books’ alignment with cognitive principles influenced children’s STEM learning using non-narrative expository books (Study 2) and narrative expository books (Study 3). In Study 2, 35 caregivers read four STEM books crossed on their high/low levels of Support and Demand to their 4- to 5-year-old children. We then assessed children’s recall of the books’ expository STEM facts. Children performed best when Support was high, irrespective of Demand levels. However, when Support was low, children benefited from high Demand (Figure 2, left panel). In Study 3, we transformed the books from Study 2 into narrative-expository books. The books included the same expository facts but with a story plot. We had 43 caregivers read 2 books to their child. The books were low in Demand and varied only in levels of Support. We tested children on their recall of narrative and expository facts. Children recalled the narrative facts similarly across books. However, as in Study 2, children’s recall of expository facts was better for the high than low Support books (Figure 2, right panel). These results show that young children learn STEM facts across both non-narrative and narrative expository books. However, young children are heavily influenced by the books’ alignment with learning principles. In conclusion, this research demonstrates the importance of considering the quality of book content in shaping early STEM learning.

Authors

• Hilary E. Miller-Goldwater, Emory University
  Presenting Author

• Lucy Cronin-Golomb, Emory University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Melanie H. Hanft, Emory University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Patricia J Bauer, Emory University
  Non-Presenting Author