Science Sprouts 2.0: Extending and replicating a longitudinal investigation of the roots of scientific literacy and interests

在科学相关的机会和成就的社会人口差异出现在幼儿期，并可能有助于长期参与和STEM领域的代表性。以这些现实为背景，本项目旨在更好地了解科学素养和兴趣的起源和发展。儿童在家中的经历，他们早期对因果关系的协调，以及相关认知技能的发展正在从3岁到13岁进行纵向评估。特别强调低收入和代表性不足的少数民族家庭，以便为制定早期干预措施提供信息，这些措施可以缩小机会差距，促进所有儿童参与科学并取得成功。总体策略是阐明儿童的因果立场，他们的科学素养，他们在science.The项目建立在以前的纵向工作建立在学前儿童的因果立场，因果推理能力，并暴露于科学相关的输入的变化之间的关系是预测随后的科学素养。一个核心目标是通过复制先前研究中最早的两波数据收集（3岁和4岁）来测试这些先前发现的强度和普遍性。通过特别关注低收入家庭，其中大多数将是黑人或拉丁裔，这种复制将扩大对未充分研究的人口的理解，这些人口在历史上面临着与科学相关的丰富和教育机会有限的问题。它还将支持因果推理和科学相关兴趣的早期测量的重测信度的评估。第二个目标是通过将最初的调查纵向延伸到中学到13岁，来确定早期指标可以预测科学成果的程度。这一扩展也将跟踪态度和成就之间的关系，在科学通过中学：一个时期，特别是戏剧性的发展变化，在这一领域。这些调查共同增强了对科学素养和兴趣的根源的了解，并为关于何时以及以何种方式让幼儿接触科学的理论和实践讨论提供了信息。该项目得到了NSF的EDU核心研究（ECR）计划的支持。ECR计划强调基础STEM教育研究，产生该领域的基础知识。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响力审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Sociodemographic disparities in science-related opportunities and achievement emerge in early childhood, and likely contribute to long-term engagement and representation in STEM fields. With these realities as a backdrop, this project aims to better understand the origins and development of scientific literacy and interests. Children's experiences at home, their early attunement to cause and effect, and the development of related cognitive skills are being evaluated longitudinally from 3 to 13 years of age. A special emphasis is placed on low-income and under-represented minority families in order to inform the development of early interventions that can allay opportunity gaps and facilitate participation and success of all children in science. The overall strategy is to shed light on relationships between children's measured causal stance, their scientific literacy, and their interest in science.The project builds on previous longitudinal work establishing that variability in preschoolers' causal stance, causal reasoning skill, and exposure to science-related input are each predictive of subsequent scientific literacy. One core goal is to test the strength and generalizability of these previous findings by replicating the two earliest waves of data collection (at 3 and 4 years of age) from a previous study. By focusing specifically on low-income families, the majority of whom will be Black or Latine, this replication will extend understanding to understudied populations that have historically faced limited access to science-related enrichment and educational opportunities. It also will support evaluation of the test-retest reliability of early measures of causal reasoning and science-related interests. A second goal is to specify how far early indicators can predict science outcomes by extending the original investigation longitudinally through middle school, to age 13. This extension also will trace relations between attitudes and achievement in science through middle school: a period of particularly dramatic developmental change in this domain. Together, these investigations enhance knowledge of the roots of scientific literacy and interests and inform theoretical and practical discussions regarding when and in what ways to expose young children to science.This project is supported by NSF's EDU Core Research (ECR) program. The ECR program emphasizes fundamental STEM education research that generates foundational knowledge in the field. Investments are made in critical areas that are essential, broad and enduring: STEM learning and STEM learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM workforce development.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.