Making the Case for Early STEM LearningWith Sheetal Singh, Early Learning LabJulie Sweetland, FrameWorks InstituteNovember 2, 2016

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Presenters

Assisting with chat: Becky Wiegand, TechSoup

Sheetal SinghDirector, Design and

Innovation, Early Learning Lab

Julie Sweetland

VP for Strategy and Innovation, FrameWorks

Institute

Susan Hope BardTraining and Education

Manger, TechSoup

5

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Making the Case for Early STEM Learning

November 2, 2016

An overview of theEarly Learning Lab

All children deserve the chance to grow, learn, and fulfill their potential to be creative thinkers and

doers. Yet too many young children aren’t exposed to the engaging and enriching experiences they need from birth to age five that help them thrive and learn. The only way to close this opportunity gap is to invest in the adults that care for them.

An Overview of the Early Learning Lab

9

What We DoThe Early Learning Lab uses social innovation to source and spread effective teaching and family support strategies, so parents, caregivers and teachers have the tools to help children ages 0-5 learn early in their lives, when it matters most.

10

• Supply: Work with technologists to ensure products are research-based and meet the needs of the field; define and test high-value technology design elements.

• Demand: Help program implementers and families understand the range of tools available and make smart decisions on what to use.

• Research to Practice: Guide the field in understanding how to meaningfully and effectively integrate technology into programs.

11

Accelerating the use of innovative technologies requires operating at three levels:

Our Early Learning Technology Work• Work with partners to identify, test,

and build an evidence-base for high-impact design elements

• Survey the field for current technology needs and recommend strategies for improvement

• Webinar trainings to bring the latest technology research to practitioners and program implementers

• Curated events with field leaders on technology best practices

• Incubation of new and improved technology solutions

12

Making the Casefor Early STEM Learning

Hosted by Early Learning Lab & TechSoup

November 2, 2016

Julie Sweetland, PhD, VP for Strategy and Innovation

@FrameWorksInst

Frames are sets of choices about how information is presented:

What to emphasize, how to explain it, and what to leave unsaid.

DESIGN AND DIGITAL MEDIA

SOCIOLOGY

ANTHROPOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY

ADMINISTRATION

Strategic Frame Analysisis a multidisciplinary approach to communications research

PUBLIC HEALTH

LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS

POLITICAL SCIENCE

ADVOCACY

JOURNALISM

FrameWorks investigates the communications aspects of social issues

• Harvard University Center on the Developing Child – how to translate science of early childhood brain and biological development to inform sound policy

• AECF/KIDS COUNT Network - how to make the most powerful case for children’s issues

• Noyce Foundation – how to build public support for improving informal STEM learning

• National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation– how zoo and aquarium interpreters can advance visitors’ understanding of climate science

• Visualizing Change - how data from NOAA and other scientific sources can be built into interpretation using displays such as Science on a Sphere or Magic Planet

You Say…They Think

Expert/Advocate

A A A

B B B

Public

Expert/Advocate

“Science literacy is just as important as the traditional literacies of

reading and writing - and we need to promote them in the early years.”

Science is important if you want to be a scientist, but little kids have no idea what they want to be when they grow up. Early on, they just need the good old basics.

Public

You Say…They Think

Expert/Advocate

“Every child is a natural scientist - they explore, inquire, and test what

they learn.”

Some kids are into science...and for others, that’s just not their thing.

Public

You Say…They Think

Expert/Advocate

“Children need to engage with STEM concepts in lots of different ways, multiple times, to really develop knowledge and skills. Afterschool programs can be a great setting for these important learning opportunities.”

Engineering class after school!?! Kids just need to be kids. I don’t see the value of doing the same thing after school that they do in school.

Public

You Say…They Think

Which of these assumptions have you run into recently?

STEM isn’t for young children

STEM is only for kids who are into it

STEM is “hard” and free time should be“fun”

“The biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has occurred.”

George Bernard Shaw

Cultural Model

Interviews

20

Media & Field Frame

Analysis

414

We conducted a comprehensive investigation

On-the-Street

Interviews

92

Persistence Trials

35

Survey Experiments

6200

Sample Size:

6,350

E

Expert Intervie

ws

15

CM

OTS

AVOID ADVANCE

Exploration and experience

Baby brain: Fill ‘er up!

Brain Architecture

The brain is built much like a house - from the bottom up -

in an active process. Skills and concepts developed in

the earliest stages of life establish the architecture and wiring that supports

later learning.

• Helps people appreciate how and why “early matters”

•Expands thinking about early learning beyond the default explanation of the ‘family bubble’

•Suppresses “container” thinking about learning

8758329=*2394x/q(230581119)ba2

889982(ab)*39910=a(g)91910238

65(a)+83729(xl)4992-918839*0929

<e>930 259(23)923582035971

9246578910(n)923095919<9>14321

x/193292=912059(2)i

982 (x) 0712 = g(2)-8M<d>183942

Framed with Milestones

The overall goals of children’s development in science are to deepen their conceptual understandings of theworld around them, to increase their comprehension of how science is practiced and to develop their abilities to conduct scientific investigations. One of the most important things parents can do to help children meet and achieve these science milestones is to provide a supportive environment.

Reframed with Brain Architecture

The developing brain is “wired” over time, through experiences. Initial or simple skills form the circuits that are bundled up intomore complex skills as children explore and grow. When children are supported in exploring the world around them, the early architecture of scientific understanding is established. As adults interact with children who are experimenting and asking questions, they are building a foundation for the ability to investigate problems scientifically.

AVOID ADVANCE

Tapping intrinsic motivationDraining the attention battery

Activation

STEM learning experiences in the afternoons, in the summer, or on weekends activate interest in these

subjects by letting children and youth

experiment with STEM in hands-on, real-world

situations.

• Deepens appreciation of the distinctive contributions of informal learning sites

•Enables people to reason about how learning happens in informal environments

• Suppresses individualistic explanations of STEM disparities

• Suppresses zero-sum thinking about time

Framed with Proof Points

Children who participate in informal STEM programs show higher school achievement in science and math, report higher levels ofinterest in STEM subjects, and are more likely to choose a STEM career.

Reframed with Activation

When children participate in effective afterschool STEM programs, they get hands-on experiences and have time tofreely explore STEM subjects. This sparks their curiosity and allows them to build up knowledge over time. Activating a greater interest in STEM through such programs leads children to do better in science and math in school. They may even become more likely to pursue a STEM-related career.

AVOID ADVANCE

Rich, multiple layers

Zero-Sum(More STEM = Less Something

Else)

Fluency

Just as people need to be immersed in real-world

situations to learn a language, children need

to explore STEM concepts, and use them, to fully

understand and become fluent in these subjects.

• Deepens appreciation of the distinctive contributions of informal learning sites

•Enables people to reason about how learning happens in informal environments

• Suppresses zero-sum thinking about time

Framed with Expert Style

Young children develop scienceunderstanding best when given multiple opportunities to engage in science exploration and experiences through inquiry. The range of experiences gives them the basis for seeing patterns, forming theories, considering alternate explanations, and building their knowledge.

Reframed with Fluency/Immersion

Just as people speak a new language more fluently when they learn it over time and go out and use it, children learn a scientificconcept best when they encounter the idea multiple times. When they have a range of experiences, they have a chance to notice patterns, come up with ideas about how things work, test them out, and consider alternative explanations. When children are immersed in investigating their world, they become more fluent in science.

Let’s talk metaphors...literally.

Enter your questions in the chat box.

AVOID ADVANCE

STEM is Everywhere, For Everyone

STEM Is For “Those Types”

Which example do you predict was the most effective at building support for informal STEM learning?

Robotics for kids

Music production

Programming apps

Community

garden

Kids can learn many different, intertwined STEM skills together. For example, in a setting like a community garden, students can conduct scientific observations on how the environment affects certain plants. They can learn how to leverage technology – which can be as simple as deciding between a shovel or a hoe, or as advanced as setting up sensors to track key indicators. They can think like engineers while building structures and systems for their plots. And, they can exercise their math skills by calculating rainfall, nutrients, or predicting the day the peppers will ripen.

Because these learning environments are flexible, and allow kids to explore their interests, afterschool STEM programs are especially effective at reaching a wide range of young people, not just those who already think of themselves as “math and science kids.”

Effectiveness Factors:Characteristics of Well-Framed Examples

Concret

e

Conceiv

able

Causal

Credible

Collectiv

e

• Talking points• Quick-start guide• Animation video• Infographics• Fact sheets• Slides

www.afterschoolstemhub.org

Thank you - and frame on!

© 2016 FrameWorks Institute.Slides in this presentation were developed by the FrameWorks Institute for individual use and cannot be represented, adapted,

or distributed without the express written permission of FrameWorks. All images in this presentation are licensed for thepurpose of this presentation only and may not be reproduced elsewhere.

www.frameworksinstitute.org

@FrameWorksInst

FrameWorks Institute

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