Developing a new generation of collaborative scientists and citizens through popular media

University Of Rhode Island, Kingston RI

Investigators

Abstract

This project will focus on understanding how media can improve boys' and girls' perceptions of scientists and engineers and increase children's understanding of collaborations in STEM. Two main products will be developed and disseminated. The first will be eight 11-minute episodes of the popular children's program, Elinor Wonders Why, which reaches 16.5 million viewers. This will be used as an intervention within a series of rigorous research studies and broadcast to audiences for public use and subsequent benefit. The second will be a game-based, Draw-a-Scientist, assessment in which 3-6 year old participants and their caregivers will create sticker-based scenes that include scientist or engineer avatars 'at work' in a variety of contexts to clarify young children's perceptions of science and engineering. This project has the potential to benefit society by modeling and celebrating STEM collaborative work. The project builds knowledge and understanding on STEM research and provides learnings for future ways of exploring the impact of youth perceptions in media. The project uses mixed methods research and an iterative design process that involves stakeholders, youth and their adult caretakers, and partnerships among university faculty, educators, and media developers to address these questions: To what degree do children perceive science as a gendered occupation? How do children and their caregivers perceive women in science? Do children perceive science as a collaborative process? Do children perceive science as important to the community? A second study will include (1) embedding the gamified assessment into a larger Elinor Wonders Why digital game, (2) linking the assessment directly to the media via a digital throw transition, and (3) disseminating the intervention (episode) and the assessment (game) linked together for public engagement through social media, broadcast, and streaming. This Type 5, Research in Support of Wide-reaching Public Engagement with STEM, 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. This includes providing everyone multiple pathways for accessing and engaging in STEM learning experiences. This project is jointly funded by Advancing Informal Science Learning (AISL), and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.