Brains On! the Move: STEM Podcasts as Facilitators of Automobile-Based Family Learning Experiences

作为在非正式环境中加强学习的总体战略的一部分，推进非正式STEM学习(AISL)计划为各种环境中使用的创新资源提供资金。这项为期四年的研究将调查家庭在听以儿童为重点的STEM播客时联合媒体参与(JME)和非正式STEM学习的情况，Brains on！先前的研究表明，家庭最经常一起听播客的环境是家庭汽车，因为孩子们开车去上学，在公路上旅行，或者参加其他活动。开动脑筋！是植根于使命驱动原则的公共广播教育和激励。目标受众是5-12岁的儿童及其父母或照顾者。每一集的长度从20到45分钟不等，展示了来自物理、化学、生物和工程等各种STEM学科的想法，通过有趣的小品、原创歌曲和对科学家的采访，对概念进行了丰富的声音解释。这些节目使用轻松、幽默的方式分享往往复杂的STEM信息。为了提供互动体验，主持人通过发送图纸、通过电子邮件发送动植物照片或提出问题等方式鼓励观众参与到节目中来，供未来一集回答。每一集都是由不同的孩子共同主持，他们就他们的工作采访顶尖科学家。科学家被选为所提出的各种主题的代表，旨在成为听众的榜样，并展示在STEM领域的广泛职业选择。这项研究补充了联合媒体参与(JME)的社会学习理论，该理论表明，分享媒体经验的人之间的互动可以导致共同学习。最近关于联合媒体参与的工作重点是父母/孩子在家里与电视/视频的互动。但关于家庭如何一起参与孩子们的STEM播客，以及由此产生的学习互动，人们知之甚少。对于这种在汽车环境中的接触，人们更是知之甚少。这一研究项目将建立新的知识，填补非正式STEM学习领域的空白。它将使用混合方法的研究设计，包括三个阶段的研究来回答这些问题：1)大脑是如何工作的！播客在汽车环境中协调基于STEM的联合媒体参与和家庭学习？2)在这种情况下，基于STEM的联合媒体参与和家庭学习看起来和听起来是什么样子？3)汽车中的因素如何促进或阻碍基于STEM的联合媒体参与和家庭学习？第一阶段是一个听众体验视频研究，30个家庭在听大脑上！剧集。第二阶段是基于视频的案例研究，研究了八个第一阶段家庭基于汽车的自然听力行为。第三阶段是关于大脑的在线调查！听众要理解第一阶段和第二阶段的发现对更大的大脑有多大的代表性！研究。结果将与可以使用调查结果的关键受众(媒体开发人员、ISE从业者、ISE评估员和研究人员以及家庭)广泛共享。它还将对联合媒体参与文献和ISE领域做出重要贡献。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

As part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments, the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program funds innovative resources for use in a variety of settings. This four-year research study will investigate families' joint media engagement (JME) and informal STEM learning while listening to the child-focused STEM podcast, Brains On! Prior research has shown that the setting where families most often listen to this podcast together is the family automobile as children are being driven to school, on road trips, or other activities. Brains On! is rooted in the mission-driven principle of public radio to educate and inspire. The target audience is children 5-12 years old and their parents or caregivers. Each episode ranges from 20-45 minutes in length and presents ideas from a variety of STEM disciplines such as physics, chemistry, biology and engineering featuring sound-rich explanations of concepts through fun skits, original songs and interviews with scientists. The episodes use a light-hearted, humorous approach to share oftentimes complex STEM information. To provide an interactive experience, hosts encourage the audience to participate with the show by sending in drawings, emailing photos of plants and animals, or posing questions to be answered in future episodes. Every episode is co-hosted by a different child who interviews top scientists about their work. The scientists are selected to be representative of the range of topics presented and are meant to serve as role models for the listeners and demonstrating a wide range of career options in the STEM field. The research adds to the social learning theory of joint media engagement (JME) which has shown that interactions between people sharing a media experience can result in learning together. Recent work on Joint Media Engagement has focused on parent/child interactions with television/video in the home. But little is known about how families engage with children's STEM podcasts together and what learning interactions occur as a result. Even less is known about this engagement within an automobile setting. This research project will build new knowledge filling a gap in the informal STEM learning field. It will use a mixed-methods research design with three phases of research to answer these questions: 1) How does the Brains On! podcast mediate STEM-based joint media engagement and family learning in an automobile setting? 2) What does STEM based joint media engagement and family learning look and sound like in this setting? 3) How do "in-automobile" factors foster or impede STEM-based joint media engagement and family learning? Phase 1 is a listener experience video study of 30 families listening to the Brains On! episodes. Phase 2 is video-based case studies of the natural automobile-based listening behaviors of eight Phase 1 families. Phase 3 is an online survey of Brains On! listeners to understand how representative the findings from Phases 1 and 2 are to the larger Brains On! Research. Results will be shared widely with key audiences that can use the findings (media developers, ISE practitioners, ISE evaluators and researchers, and families). It will also make an important contribution to the Joint Media Engagement literature and the ISE field.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.