Investigating the Impact of Head Start Family Interactions on Childrens STEM Process Skills during Family Events at Two Science Centers

父母和成人照顾者在幼儿对科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）的理解和参与方面发挥着重要作用。研究表明，早期参与STEM可以对儿童使用STEM过程技能（如探索，观察和解决问题）以及未来的学术成功产生深远的影响。非正式STEM学习提供者面临的一个紧迫而持续的挑战是了解如何利用有限的资源为所有儿童和家庭提供有效的STEM学习机会和经验。通过研究人员，开端，两个科学中心（一个农村，一个城市）和教育工作者之间的合作，该项目旨在促进STEM的获取和参与，特别关注幼儿及其照顾者。该项目由推进非正式STEM学习（AISL）计划资助，该计划旨在推进非正式环境中STEM学习的设计和开发的新方法和基于证据的理解。该试点和可行性研究将采用实验性混合方法设计来检查父母/照顾者和儿童（4-5岁）的互动之前，期间，和之后的非正式STEM经验，以确定哪些因素影响儿童的学习STEM过程中的技能在多个非正式环境的转移。研究结果将为今后的纵向研究奠定基础。项目团队会问：（1）在科学中心，什么类型的父母/孩子参与最能预测孩子在随后的解决问题任务和入学准备中应用STEM过程技能？(2)在科学中心访问期间，父母/父母-孩子对话策略的变化如何影响孩子的记忆和学习？以及（3）非正式教育工作者如何最好地支持开端家庭参与和儿童新兴的STEM知识？这项研究将收集240名4-5岁儿童及其照顾者的数据，这些儿童来自两个不同的科学中心，主要服务于农村和城市人口。数据来源将包括在科学中心和家里的儿童互动的视频/音频，以及儿童的回忆，参与解决问题的任务，和学校准备分数。在科学中心访问期间和之后对任务的编码和分析将详细说明儿童记忆，学习和应用STEM过程技能的机制，这些技能转移到解决问题的任务中。该项目将通过研究-实践伙伴关系实施，利用项目伙伴和社区的专门知识，确保采用对文化敏感的研究做法。这项研究有可能在战略上影响科学中心和开端赠款人如何在家庭参与计划中合作，以实现公平的STEM学习机会，扩大低收入幼儿及其家庭的参与。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得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来支持。

Parents and adult caregivers play a significant role in young children’s understanding of—and participation in—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Research suggests that early engagement with STEM can have a profound impact on children’s use of STEM process skills such as exploration, observation, and problem-solving, as well as future academic success. An immediate yet ongoing challenge facing informal STEM learning providers is to understand how limited resources can be used to support effective STEM learning opportunities and experiences for all children and families. Through a collaboration between researchers, Head Start, two science centers (one rural, one urban), and educators, this project aims to foster STEM access and engagement with specific attention to young children and their caregivers. This project is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program which seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments.This Pilot and Feasibility study will apply an experimental, mixed-methods design to examine parent/caregiver and child (ages 4-5) interactions before, during, and after informal STEM experiences to identify which factors influence children's transfer of learning STEM process skills across multiple informal contexts. Research results will lay the foundation for a future longitudinal study. The project team will ask: (1) What types of parent/caregiver-child engagement at the science center are most predictive of children’s application of STEM process skills in subsequent problem-solving tasks and school readiness? (2) How do variations in parent/caregiver-child conversational strategies during the science center visit influence children’s memory and learning? and (3) How can informal educators best support Head Start family engagement and children’s emerging STEM knowledge? This study will collect data on 240, 4-5-year-old children, with their caregivers, in two different science centers that serve a largely rural and largely urban population. Data sources will include video/audio of caregiver-child interactions at the science centers and at home, as well as children’s recall, engagement with a problem-solving task, and school readiness scores. Coding and analysis of the tasks during and after the science center visit will detail mechanisms underlying children’s memory, learning, and application of STEM process skills that transfer to the problem-solving task. The project will be implemented by a research-practice partnership, leveraging the expertise of project partners and communities to ensure the use of culturally responsive research practices. This research has the potential to strategically impact how science centers and Head Start grantees work together on Family Engagement programming to achieve equitable STEM learning opportunities, broadening participation for low-income young children and their families.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.