Scientific agency in preschool STEM: a play-based developmental model.

Area of Science:

• Early Childhood Education
• Science Education
• Developmental Psychology

Background:

• Current early childhood STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) approaches often focus on future outcomes or activities, not fully explaining the transition from play to child-authored inquiry.
• Existing research documents STEM exposure and engagement but lacks specificity on how hands-on experiences become genuine epistemic participation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a conceptual framework, the Play-Based STEM Agency Model, detailing scientific agency in preschool STEM.
• To bridge the gap between activity-centered/outcome-oriented accounts and the process of young children developing scientific inquiry skills.

Main Methods:

• The Play-Based STEM Agency Model is a theoretically derived framework, not from a single empirical study.
• It synthesizes theories from early childhood pedagogy, constructivist and sociocultural learning, curiosity research, embodied cognition, and science education inquiry practices.

Main Results:

• The model proposes a recursive pathway: play-based STEM inquiry creates uncertainty, which sparks curiosity.
• Embodied investigation allows testing ideas through action and feedback, leading to meaning-making, comparison, representation, explanation, and revision.
• Scientific agency develops when children's contributions direct inquiry and are acknowledged by peers and teachers.

Conclusions:

• The Play-Based STEM Agency Model offers a nuanced understanding of scientific agency in early childhood STEM.
• It provides testable hypotheses and process-sensitive indicators for research, teacher education, and assessment in preschool STEM education.