2015 — 2019 |
Gamez, Perla Haden, Catherine [⬀] |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Collaborative Research: Advancing Early Stem Learning Opportunities Through Tinkering and Reflection @ Loyola University of Chicago
Nationally, there is tremendous interest in enhancing participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Providing rich opportunities for engagement in science and engineering practices may be key to developing a much larger cadre of young people who grow up interested in and pursue future STEM education and career options. One particularly powerful way to engage children in exploration and playful experimentation may be through learning experiences that call for tinkering with real objects and tools to make and remake things. Tinkering is an important target for research and educational practice for at least two reasons: (1) tinkering experiences are frequently social, involving children interacting with educators and family members who can support STEM-relevant tinkering in various ways and (2) tinkering is more open-ended than many other kinds of building experiences (e.g., puzzles, making a model airplane), because it is the participants' own unique questions and objectives that guide the activity. Thus, tinkering provides a highly accessible point of entry into early STEM learning for children and families from a variety of backgrounds, interests and levels of expertise. This Research-in-Service to Practice project is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program which seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments.
The project will take place in the Tinkering Lab exhibit at Chicago Children's Museum. The research will investigate how reflective interactions between parents and children (ages 6-8) during tinkering activities ultimately impact child engagement in STEM. Design-based research (DBR) is well-suited to the iterative and contextually-rich process of tinkering. Using a DBR approach, researchers and museum facilitators will be trained to prompt variations of simple reflection strategies at different time points between family members as a way to strengthen children's engagement with, and memory of these shared tinkering events. Through progressive refinement, each cycle of testing will lead to new hypotheses that can be tested in the subsequent round of observations. The operationalization of study constructs and their measurement will come organically from families' activities in the Tinkering Lab and will be developed in consultation with members of the advisory board. Data collection strategies will include observation and interviews; a series of coding schemes will be used to make sense of the data. The research will result in theoretical and practical understanding of ways to enhance STEM engagement and learning by young children and their families through tinkering. A diverse group of at least 350 children and their families will be involved.
The project will provide much needed empirical results on how to promote STEM engagement and learning in informal science education settings. It will yield useful information and resources for informal science learning practitioners, parents, and other educators who look to advance STEM learning opportunities for children. This research will be conducted through a partnership among researchers at Loyola University of Chicago and Northwestern University and museum staff and educators at the Chicago Children's Museum.
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0.915 |
2019 |
Gamez, Perla B. |
R15Activity Code Description: Supports small-scale research projects at educational institutions that provide baccalaureate or advanced degrees for a significant number of the Nation’s research scientists but that have not been major recipients of NIH support. The goals of the program are to (1) support meritorious research, (2) expose students to research, and (3) strengthen the research environment of the institution. Awards provide limited Direct Costs, plus applicable F&A costs, for periods not to exceed 36 months. This activity code uses multi-year funding authority; however, OER approval is NOT needed prior to an IC using this activity code. |
Spanish-Speaking Latinos' Early Language Environments and Dual Language Development @ Loyola University of Chicago
PROJECT SUMMARY The overarching goal of the proposed study is to identify the features of Spanish-speaking Latino children's early language learning environments that are associated with positive dual language trajectories and thus provide a scientific basis for interventions and policies aimed at promoting the dual language development and academic well-being of a substantial portion of the U.S. population. Young Latinos are the largest ethnic- minority group in the U.S., representing a quarter of the U.S. population. Latino children from Spanish-speaking homes are typically characterized as underperforming academically in language-related areas such as reading. Such academic difficulties are connected to a myriad of health concerns later in life, including engaging in risky behaviors (e.g., smoking, physical inactivity, obesity), access to low quality healthcare and a low life expectancy. Thus, the academic underperformance and language-related difficulties of Spanish-speaking Latinos represent a national health concern. At the center of policy efforts intended to promote children's language skills and hence, healthy development is exposure to high-quality language experiences or ?language nutrition? (i.e., vocabulary diversity, syntactic complexity). Yet, the pathways underlying ethnic-minority children's successful language development remain understudied. Questions remain, including whether and how Spanish-speaking Latino's early language environments establish a trajectory for dual language growth and ultimately, academic success. Therefore, the proposed study's aims are to 1) describe the trajectories of dual language development in Spanish- speaking Latino toddlers at ages 18, 24, 30 and 36 months, 2) identify the individual child-level factors, including gesture production, that are associated with increases in Spanish-speaking Latino toddler's dual language skills, and 3) identify the features of Spanish-speaking Latino children's language-learning environments, including caregiver language input (i.e., vocabulary, syntax) and emotional supportiveness (i.e., warmth, sensitivity), that are associated with their English and Spanish language skills. Undergraduate and graduate student researchers will collect, transcribe and code video- and audio-recorded observations of caregiver-child language interactions in homes with varying Spanish and English exposure levels. Observations will take place at 6-month intervals, from child age 18 to 36 months, using novel language recording technology. Researcher-developed and standardized tests will be used to assess children's vocabulary and syntactic skills. In addition to identifying protective child- and contextual-level factors related to successful dual language learning in Spanish-speaking Latino toddlers, these study findings will have important implications for interventions and policies aimed at enhancing language and health-related academic outcomes in a substantial portion of the U.S. population.
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