Examining and Promoting Math Engagement for Families with Young Children

该奖项的全部或部分资金来自《2021年美国救援计划法案》(公法117-2)。家庭对早期数学的参与可以包括与数字有关的日常活动和互动，这对幼儿的学习和发展很重要。然而，这种家庭参与的数量和类型有很大的差异。了解如何促进对早期数学的参与是至关重要的，特别是对贫困家庭的孩子。该项目的目标是：(A)调查家庭如何参与数学；(B)与家庭合作，设计并实施干预措施，以促进家庭参与数学。该项目的发现有可能对STEM教育、幼儿教育和发展心理学领域做出贡献。该项目还旨在培养家庭对早期数学的兴趣和参与，这可以支持来自社会经济背景不同的儿童从事STEM学习和职业。尽管越来越多的证据表明，家庭对早期数学的参与使孩子们走上了积极的数学学习轨道，但还需要更多的工作来理解如何促进对早期数学的参与，特别是对于来自弱势背景的儿童。这个项目采用了基于强项的方法来考察家庭数学投入，主要有三个目标。首先是调查家庭目前在日常生活中是如何从事数学活动的，以及哪些因素对参与度有影响。第二是设计和实施家庭参与干预，以家庭的经验和机会为基础，在日常生活中从事数学活动。第三，从父母对数学的信念、家庭数学参与以及孩子的数学兴趣和表现等方面考察干预的作用。由此产生的分析有可能加深对数学发展的理解，并开发基于证据的工具和指导，以支持儿童对数学的学习和兴趣。研究设计将使用多种方法，包括焦点小组访谈、对家庭数学参与的自然主义观察，以及与从Head Start幼儿园招募的家庭共同设计的实验干预。总体而言，该项目旨在扩大先前关于家庭数学参与的研究，包括自然主义的知情和丰富的家庭报告视角。该项目有可能直接应用于家庭和教育工作者，这可能会进一步推动正在进行的支持来自社会经济不同背景的儿童的努力，从而使他们更好地为未来的STEM研究和职业生涯做准备。该项目响应STEM教育博士后研究奖学金(STEM Ed PRF)计划，该计划旨在增强STEM、STEM教育、教育和相关学科的新近博士的研究知识、技能和实践，以促进他们从事基础和应用研究，以促进该领域的知识进步。该项目还得到了NSF的STEM教育研究中的EHR核心研究能力建设计划(ECR：BCSER)的部分支持，该计划旨在建设研究人员开展高质量STEM教育研究的能力。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 award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). Family engagement in early math can include daily activities and interactions that relate to numbers which are important for young children’s learning and development. However, there is significant variation in the amount and types of this kind of family engagement. Understanding how to promote engagement in early math is critical, especially for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. The goals of this project are to: (a) examine how families engage in math and (b) work with families to design and implement an intervention to promote family engagement in math. The findings from the project have the potential to contribute to the fields of STEM education, early childhood education, and developmental psychology. The project is also designed to build family interest and engagement in early math, which can support children from socioeconomically diverse backgrounds in pursuing STEM studies and careers. Although there is increasing evidence that family engagement in early math starts children on a positive math learning trajectory, more work is needed to understand how to promote engagement in early math, particularly for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. This project takes a strengths-based approach to examining family math engagement, with three primary objectives. First is to examine how families currently engage with math in their daily routines and what factors contribute to engagement. Second is to design and implement a family engagement intervention, building upon families’ experiences and opportunities to engage in math in their daily routines. Third is to examine the role of the intervention in terms of parental beliefs about math, family math engagement, and child math interest and performance. Resulting analyses have the potential to deepen understanding of math development and for developing evidence-based tools and guidance to support children’s learning and interests in math. The study design will use multiple methods, including focus group interviews, naturalistic observations of family math engagement, and the co-design of an experimental intervention with families recruited from Head Start preschool classrooms. Overall, the project aims to extend prior research on family math engagement including naturalistically-informed and rich family-reported perspectives. The project has potential for direct applications for families and educators that may further ongoing efforts to support children from socioeconomically diverse backgrounds thereby better positioning them to pursue future STEM studies and careers.The project responds to the STEM Education Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (STEM Ed PRF) program that aims to enhance the research knowledge, skills, and practices of recent doctorates in STEM, STEM education, education, and related disciplines to advance their preparation to engage in fundamental and applied research that advances knowledge within the field. The project is also partially supported by the NSF’s EHR Core Research Building Capacity in STEM Education Research (ECR: BCSER) program which is designed to build investigators’ capacity to carry out high-quality STEM education research.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.