Below are some of our current studies surrounding Children’s Learning in Informal Spaces! If there is anything more you would like to know about these studies, please check out our Contact Us tab.
Tinkering And Learning Engineering Through Storytelling
- Objective: Examine how storytelling can support young children and families in learning about engineering and engaging in spatial thinking in a museum tinkering space
- Summary: This grant has concluded, but we still have some data to transcribe and code. In this final project, we are exploring how opportunities to create “digital stories” for imagined online audiences can support children in communicating their thoughts, discussing engineering practices, and forming lasting memories about informal learning experiences.
Gulf of Maine Research Institute
- Objective: Investigate how middle school students interact with various data visualizations and learn about climate change during a field trip the GMRI.
- Summary: Data collection is ongoing, and we are planning follow-up activities in children’s homes and classrooms this academic year. Initial analyses have focused on how students annotate various visualizations (maps, graphs), how students talk about spatial and other STEM-related information in reflections, and how gestures support scientific thinking.