EAPSI: Investigating the Development of Spatial Skills in South Korean children

儿童早期的空间技能（即涉及心理表征和操纵物体的各种能力）与以后在数学和科学方面的学习成绩以及进入STEM职业有关。儿童的数学和科学能力存在显著的跨国差异，韩国儿童在这两个学科领域都名列前十。从幼儿园开始，韩国孩子在空间技能方面的表现就超过了其他国家的孩子。这些发现表明，韩国人在空间技能以及后来的数学和科学方面的优势，可能源于早期的家庭经历。在数学和科学成绩排名前十的国家，对儿童空间技能发展的研究是有限的，也是必要的。这样的研究可以为旨在促进儿童STEM发展的教育实践和政策提供信息。因此，本项目将：1)通过开发和适应新的测量方法来研究韩国3- 4岁儿童的空间技能；2)调查儿童的家庭环境（如积木和拼图等空间玩具）以及与父母的互动如何与这些技能相关。该项目将在韩国排名最高的研究型大学首尔国立大学（Seoul National University）进行，并与在父母行为和家庭环境如何影响韩国学龄前儿童学业成功方面具有专长的郭金柱（Keumjoo Kwak）博士合作。韩国儿童在STEM领域比美国儿童领先7岁和8岁。迄今为止，对韩国儿童的STEM研究主要集中在早期的数字技能上。然而，对韩国儿童空间技能发展的研究缺乏，这可能部分解释了韩国儿童在STEM领域的天赋。第一个目的是描述韩国3- 4岁儿童空间技能的个体差异。这项研究将把研究扩展到一个未被充分研究的人群、年龄和对STEM表现至关重要的认知发展领域：心理翻译、旋转等空间技能。第二个目的是调查韩国的父母。与儿童进行空间语言和空间活动（如积木游戏），并将这些活动与儿童的空间技能联系起来。该项目将为儿童开发和调整一系列空间技能评估；评估围绕空间概念的亲子互动的新措施和新程序；以及衡量家长对STEM学科的态度和信念（通过视频录制的互动、问卷调查、对孩子的直接评估）。研究结果将促进对最能促进STEM领域早期空间技能和表现发展的实践的认识。该奖项是由美国国家科学基金会（NSF）和韩国国立科学研究财团（National research Foundation）共同资助的东亚太平洋暑期研究所（East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes）项目，为美国研究生的暑期研究提供支持。

Children's early spatial skills (i.e., various abilities that involve mentally representing and manipulating objects) relate to later school performance in the math and sciences and entry into STEM careers. Striking cross-national differences exist in children's math and science abilities, with children in South Korea ranking in the top 10 in both subject areas. Already by kindergarten, South Korean children outperform children from various countries on tasks of spatial skill. These findings suggest the Korean advantage in spatial skills, and later math and science, might be rooted in early home experiences. Research is limited and needed on the development of children's spatial skills in nations that rank in the top 10 in math and science. Such research can inform educational practices and policy aiming to promote STEM development in children. Therefore, this project will: 1) examine the spatial skills of South Korean 3- and 4-year olds by developing and adapting new measures and 2) investigate how children's home environments (e.g., spatial toys like blocks and puzzles) and interactions with their parents relate to these skills. The project will be conducted at Seoul National University, the most highly ranked research university in South Korea, in collaboration with Dr. Keumjoo Kwak, who has expertise in how parental practices and home environments affect Korean preschoolers' academic success.South Korean children surpass U.S. children in STEM areas by 7 and 8 years. To date, STEM research on Korean children has focused on early number skills. However, there is a dearth of research on the development of Korean children's spatial skills, which may partially explain South Korean children's aptitude in STEM areas. The first aim is to describe individual differences in spatial skill among South Korean 3- and 4-year olds. The study will extend research to an understudied population, age, and domain of cognitive development foundational to STEM performance: spatial skills of mental translation, rotation, and so on. A second aim is to examine South Korean parents? spatial language and spatial activities with children (e.g., block play) and relate these practices to children's spatial skill. The project will develop and adapt a battery of spatial skill assessments for children; new measures and procedures for assessing parent-child interactions around spatial concepts; and measures of parents' attitudes and beliefs about STEM disciplines (through videorecorded interactions, questionnaires, direct assessments of children). Findings will advance knowledge on the practices that best promote the development of early spatial skills and performance in STEM areas. This award, under the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program, supports summer research by a U.S. graduate student and is jointly funded by NSF and the National Research Foundation of Korea.