Exploratory research and co-design to identify opportunities to support caregiver engagement in early STEM learning

该项目解决了制定公平的幼儿STEM教育方法的迫切需要，这种方法尊重照顾者(如父母、祖父母和儿童生活中的其他成年人)支持幼儿学习的不同文化习俗。最近的研究表明，正规和非正规教育机构往往把西方或欧洲为中心的育儿做法放在首位，忽视了许多家庭的文化习俗和学习方式。这项研究将汇集一组照顾者、幼儿园前教育工作者、研究人员和博物馆工作人员，调查有年幼孩子的家庭如何在自己的文化实践和他们在博物馆、学校和其他社区环境中遇到的STEM学习类型之间进行谈判。项目团队将共同努力，为非正式的STEM学习机构寻找机会，加强它们作为家庭和学校环境桥梁的作用，并为在这个更大的社区背景下利用照顾者的知识和文化实践开辟新的可能性。该项目将直接惠及每年子女在合作公立学校就读的330个家庭，以及每年参加纽约科学馆家庭活动的数百个家庭。最后，通过考虑照顾者的视角和基于他们身份的多方面的细微差别，这项研究将揭示如何改变教育环境的结构，使其对尽可能广泛的家庭受众变得更具包容性和文化响应性。这个试点和可行性项目旨在1)进行探索性研究，从照顾者的角度理解照顾者参与，定义为照顾者在儿童学习中的角色相关的期望、价值观和做法，以及2)参与与照顾者和幼儿园前教育工作者共同设计的努力，探索如何利用博物馆作为物质和创意资源来支持照顾者参与STEM学习。这项工作将在纽约科学馆和纽约市教育局之间的长期伙伴关系范围内进行。方法将包括与照顾者的深入访谈，使用叙事和跨部门研究方法来扩展现有关于照顾者参与非正式STEM学习的研究，同时考虑到家庭的社会和文化认同的多个方面。这项工作将在科罗纳进行，这是纽约皇后区的一个社区，主要由低收入和第一代移民家庭组成。项目组将合作解释调查结果并参与共同设计工作的初始阶段，这将包括：反思目前支持照顾者参与儿童跨环境学习的系统；合作制定新的文化响应战略，将博物馆作为有幼儿的家庭的材料和创造性资源；选择有希望的进一步开发和测试方向。这项工作的成果将包括新的照顾者参与倡议的方向，这些倡议可以随着伙伴关系的继续发展和完善，以及支持照顾者、幼儿园前教育工作者和其他社区利益相关者公平参与未来研究-实践伙伴关系的战略。这项为期两年的试点和可行性研究由推进非正式STEM学习(AISL)计划资助，旨在：(A)促进对非正式环境中STEM学习的设计和开发的新方法和基于证据的理解；(B)提供扩大获得和参与STEM学习体验的多种途径；(C)推进非正式环境中STEM学习的创新研究和评估；以及(D)让所有年龄段的公众在非正式环境中学习STEM。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。

This project addresses the urgent need for the development of equitable approaches to early childhood STEM education that honor the diverse cultural practices through which caregivers (such as parents, grandparents, and other adults in children’s lives) support young children’s learning. Recent studies suggest that both formal and informal educational institutions often privilege Western or Eurocentric parenting practices, neglecting many families’ cultural practices and ways of learning. This study will bring together a group of caregivers, pre-K educators, researchers, and museum staff to investigate how families with young children negotiate among their own cultural practices and the types of STEM learning they encounter in museums, schools, and other community settings. The project team will work together to identify opportunities for informal STEM learning institutions to strengthen their roles as places that can bridge home and school environments and open up new possibilities for building on caregivers’ knowledge and cultural practices within this larger community context. The project will directly benefit the 330 families whose children attend the partnering public school each year, as well as hundreds of families who attend family events at the New York Hall of Science annually. Finally, by considering nuances in caregivers’ perspectives and experiences based on multiple facets of their identities, the research will reveal how structures in educational settings might be changed to become more inclusive and culturally responsive for the broadest possible audience of families.This Pilots and Feasibility project seeks to 1) conduct exploratory research to understand caregiver engagement, defined as caregivers’ expectations, values, and practices related to their roles in children’s learning, from the perspectives of caregivers, and 2) engage in co-design efforts with caregivers and pre-K educators to explore how the museum can be leveraged as a material and creative resource to support caregiver engagement in STEM learning. This work will be carried out in the context of a long-term partnership between the New York Hall of Science and the New York City Department of Education. Methods will include in-depth interviews with caregivers, using narrative and intersectional research methods to extend existing studies on caregiver engagement in informal STEM learning, while taking into account multiple aspects of families’ social and cultural identities. This work will be carried out in Corona — a neighborhood in Queens, NY, largely made up of low-income and first-generation immigrant families. The project team will collaboratively interpret findings and engage in the initial phases of co-design work, which will include: reflecting on the systems currently in place to support caregivers’ involvement in children’s learning across settings; collaboratively generating new, culturally responsive strategies for leveraging the museum as a material and creative resource for families with young children; and choosing promising directions for further development and testing. Products from this work will include directions for new caregiver engagement initiatives that can be developed and refined as the partnership continues, and strategies for supporting equitable participation by caregivers, pre-K educators, and other community stakeholders in future research-practice partnerships.This 2-year Pilot and Feasibility study is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which seeks to (a) advance new approaches to and evidence-based understanding of the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments; (b) provide multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences; (c) advance innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments; and (d) engage the public of all ages in learning STEM in informal environments.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.