The executive summary of the Formative Research Report for the project: Fostering Joint Parent/Child Engagement in Preschool Computational Thinking by Leveraging Digital Media, Mobile Technology, and Library Settings in Rural Communities.
This is the formative research report for the project: Fostering Joint Parent/Child Engagement in Preschool Computational Thinking by Leveraging Digital Media, Mobile Technology, and Library Settings in Rural Communities
This project will teach foundational computational thinking (CT) concepts to preschoolers by creating a mobile app to guide families through sequenced sets of videos and hands-on activities, building on the popular PBS KIDS series Work It Out Wombats!
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Marisa WolskyJanna KookJessica Andrews
How can we use a telenovela to help Latinx parents see themselves as role models in their young children’s science learning? Using an innovative, culturally relevant, meaningful, and authentic media program – a telenovela – to promote caregivers’ confidence, ability to support their children’s everyday science learning, and awareness of science career paths. Latinx children make 25% of the U.S. population but represent only 7% of the STEM workforce as adults. This project aims to change the narrative around Latinx family engagement with rich science learning that draws on home culture and
This poster was presented at the 2021 NSF AISL Awardee Meeting.
This project's research questions include:
How and to what extent do Brains On!’s coronavirus-based episodes help children and their families understand and talk about science-related pandemic topics? What kind of conversations are sparked by these episodes?
What kinds of worries and questions do Brains On! listeners have about coronavirus and related aspects of the pandemic? How do children’s worries and questions change over the course of the pandemic?
What resources do caregivers need to answer children’s questions
In this paper, our collaborative project team shares design principles and lessons learned from research for designing an app to support families’ joint engagement with media and promote powerful shared learning experiences. We provide a rationale, based on research literature, for why a second-screen app in particular addresses our project goals. In addition, we describe the Splash and Bubbles for Parents app components as well as the co-design process and design-based research studies conducted to inform its design and development. Finally, our team offers design principles grounded in
The goal of this NSF-funded RAPID research project was to advance understanding of how children’s science podcasts can provide families with information to help ease children’s worries during a pandemic by increasing children’s understanding of pandemic-related science concepts and supporting pandemic-related family conversations. Our research was guided by the following questions:
1. How and to what extent do Brains On!’s coronavirus-based episodes help children and their families understand and talk about science-related pandemic topics?
2. What kinds of conversations are
This report, prepared for The Jim Henson Company, shares findings of a sub-study investigating the types of support parents and caregivers need when navigating and using the second-screen Splash and Bubbles for Parents app. This study originated from a prior field study finding indicating families would benefit from support around the app since it represents a new kind of digital tool. In partnership with local Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) stations, we provided parents and caregivers more detailed support around the features of the app. Based on survey and interview findings, parents and
The Splash and Bubbles for Parents app is a second-screen digital resource for parents and caregivers to support young children’s learning of ocean science. This report, prepared for The Jim Henson Company, shares findings of a field study conducted to examine the promise of the app in supporting parents’ and caregivers’ behaviors and attitudes toward science and technology; families’ joint engagement with media (adults and children watch and play together); and children’s science learning. Findings indicate that parents and caregivers found the app helpful for supporting their children’s
This paper reports on a new media-based tool designed to develop new knowledge about joint parent-child participation in science talk and practices using a second screen app synced with a television program, called Splash! Ask-Me: Ocean Adventures (Splash!).[1] With funding from the National Science Foundation, Splash! is an app designed to work in conjunction with a marine science-focused television program, Splash and Bubbles, for children 2-8 years old that premiered nationally on PBS Kids in fall of 2016.
The free app includes a variety of "conversation catalysts" tied to the television
A year into the COVID-19 pandemic, the world continues to struggle with the many ways our lives have changed and the uncertainty that remains about the future. Vaccines are being widely administered, but how and when life will return to “normal” remains unknown. During this time, caregivers continue to seek out information to address the questions, worries, and information needs their children have about this unique moment in their lives. Our NSF-funded RAPID research project has helped to uncover some of these questions, worries, and needs by talking to caregivers of listeners of the children