TY - JOUR
T1 - Promoting children's learning and transfer across informal science, technology, engineering, and mathematics learning experiences
AU - Marcus, Maria
AU - Haden, Catherine A.
AU - Uttal, David H.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under collaborative grant 1123411/1122712. We thank our partners at the Chicago Children’s Museum, especially Tsivia Cohen and Rick Garmon. Thanks to Taylor Adams and Margaret Christie for their research assistance. We also extend our appreciation to the families who participated in this research.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2018/11
Y1 - 2018/11
N2 - This study investigated ways to support young children's science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning and transfer of knowledge across informal learning experiences in a museum. Participants were 64 4- to 8-year-old children (Mage = 6.55 years, SD = 1.44) and their parents. Families were observed working together to solve one engineering problem, and then immediately afterward children worked on their own to solve a second engineering problem. At the outset of the problem-solving activities, families were randomly assigned to receive engineering instructions, transfer instructions, both engineering and transfer instructions, or no instructions. Families who received engineering instructions—either alone or in combination with the transfer instructions—demonstrated greater understanding and use of the engineering principle of bracing compared with those who received only transfer instructions. Moreover, older children who received both engineering and transfer instructions were more successful when working on their own to solve a perceptually different engineering problem compared with older children who received only one set of instructions or no instructions. Implications of the work for developmental and learning science research and informal education practice are discussed.
AB - This study investigated ways to support young children's science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning and transfer of knowledge across informal learning experiences in a museum. Participants were 64 4- to 8-year-old children (Mage = 6.55 years, SD = 1.44) and their parents. Families were observed working together to solve one engineering problem, and then immediately afterward children worked on their own to solve a second engineering problem. At the outset of the problem-solving activities, families were randomly assigned to receive engineering instructions, transfer instructions, both engineering and transfer instructions, or no instructions. Families who received engineering instructions—either alone or in combination with the transfer instructions—demonstrated greater understanding and use of the engineering principle of bracing compared with those who received only transfer instructions. Moreover, older children who received both engineering and transfer instructions were more successful when working on their own to solve a perceptually different engineering problem compared with older children who received only one set of instructions or no instructions. Implications of the work for developmental and learning science research and informal education practice are discussed.
KW - Parent–child conversations
KW - STEM learning
KW - Transfer of knowledge
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85049858637&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jecp.2018.06.003
DO - 10.1016/j.jecp.2018.06.003
M3 - Other Journal Article
C2 - 30025257
AN - SCOPUS:85049858637
SN - 0022-0965
VL - 175
SP - 80
EP - 95
JO - Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
JF - Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
ER -