Developing STEM Skills through Play and Exhibit Design for Early Learners in Children’s Museums and Science Centers

推进非正式STEM学习（AISL）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。为不同年龄段的儿童设计有效的STEM学习展览面临的一个持续挑战是，缺乏可靠的、基于证据的资源，设计师可以将这些资源应用于设计STEM展览，这些展览利用游戏作为儿童的主要教学法，同时让儿童参与STEM内容和过程，以支持STEM技能的发展，如观察。为了应对这些挑战，项目团队将使用一个协作过程，在这个过程中，学习研究人员和非正式的STEM从业者迭代地开发、设计和测试STEM for Play框架，然后将其应用于设计以STEM为重点的展览，以支持早期学习者的游戏和STEM技能的使用。这个“服务实践研究”项目将解决以下问题：1)在STEM早期学习中，包含儿童文化影响的游戏框架是什么？2)在展览中，早期学习者（3-8岁）与照顾者或同伴之间的互动在多大程度上影响了支持STEM技能发展的游戏结构和有效性？3)从业者如何将游戏与STEM技能发展联系起来，以及早期STEM学习中的游戏框架在多大程度上有助于识别支持早期STEM技能发展的游戏类型？4)从业者认为哪些是支持幼儿观众STEM技能发展的展览设计最佳实践，相反，从业者在多大程度上认为设计的特定方面对游戏有影响？项目团队将通过四个阶段的研究来解决这些问题，其中包括(a)开发一个关键的研究综合，为最初的STEM for Play框架提供信息；(b)利用调查、焦点小组和访谈，征求从业员的意见；(c)测试和修订框架，在多个博物馆对STEM展品进行有组织的观察。项目小组将使用多种分析方法，包括定性专题分析和推论统计。研究结果将被传播到儿童博物馆、科学中心和研究社区。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments. An ongoing challenge to the design of effective STEM learning exhibits for diverse young children is the absence of reliable and evidence-based resources that designers can apply to the design of STEM exhibits that draw upon play as a child’s primary pedagogy, while simultaneously engaging children with STEM content and processes that support development of STEM skills such as observation. To address these challenges, the project team will use a collaborative process in which learning researchers and informal STEM practitioners iteratively develop, design, and test the STEM for Play Framework that could then be applied to the design of STEM-focused exhibits that support play and STEM skill use among early learners. This Research in Service to Practice project will address these questions: 1) What is a framework for play in early STEM learning that is inclusive of children’s cultural influences?; 2) To what extent do interactions between early learners (ages 3-8) and caregivers or peers at exhibits influence the structure and effectiveness of play for supporting STEM skill development?; 3) How do practitioners link play to STEM skill development, and to what extent does a framework for play in early STEM learning assist in identifying types of play that supports early STEM skill development?; and 4) What do practitioners identify as best practices in exhibit design that support the development of STEM skills for early childhood audiences, and conversely, to what extent do practitioners perceive specific aspects of the design as influential to play? The project team will address these questions across four phases of study that will include (a) development of a critical research synthesis to inform the initial STEM for Play framework; (b) the use of surveys, focus groups, and interviews to solicit feedback from practitioners; (c) testing and revising the framework by conducting structured observations of STEM exhibits at multiple museums. The project team will use multiple analytic approaches including qualitative thematic analyses as well as inferential statistics. Results will be disseminated to children’s museums, science centers, and research communities.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.