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Promoting children's learning and transfer across informal science, technology, engineering, and mathematics learning
Maria Marcus1, Catherine A Haden1, David H Uttal2
1Department of Psychology, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL 60660, USA.
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
|July 20, 2018
Summary
Providing engineering instructions significantly improved children's understanding and application of engineering principles. Combining engineering and transfer instructions particularly benefited older children in solving new problems.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- STEM Education
- Informal Learning Environments
Background:
- Young children's engagement with Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) is crucial for future learning.
- Informal learning settings like museums offer unique opportunities for STEM exploration.
- Facilitating knowledge transfer across different contexts is a key challenge in STEM education.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate effective strategies for supporting young children's STEM learning and knowledge transfer in a museum setting.
- To examine the impact of different types of instructions (engineering, transfer, or both) on children's problem-solving abilities.
- To understand how age influences the effectiveness of instructional strategies for STEM knowledge transfer.
Main Methods:
- A study involving 64 children aged 4-8 and their parents in a museum.
- Families engaged in two engineering problem-solving tasks, with varying instructional conditions assigned randomly.
- Observations and assessments were used to measure understanding and application of engineering principles.
Main Results:
- Families receiving engineering instructions (alone or with transfer instructions) showed better understanding and use of the engineering principle of bracing.
- Older children who received both engineering and transfer instructions were more successful in solving a novel engineering problem independently.
- The type and combination of instructions significantly impacted children's ability to apply learned engineering concepts.
Conclusions:
- Explicit engineering instructions are vital for children's comprehension and application of engineering principles.
- A combination of engineering and transfer instructions is most effective for promoting STEM knowledge transfer, especially in older children.
- Findings inform the design of effective informal STEM learning experiences in museums and other educational settings.