Gendered Packaging of a STEM Toy Influences Children's Play, Mechanical Learning, and Mothers’ Play Guidance

Coyle, Emily F.; Liben, Lynn S.

doi:10.1111/cdev.13139

Cited by 24 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…In our classroom observation, as compared with boys, girls were more silent in the process of solving problems, which could help them think more deeply. However, this finding was inconsistent with the previous findings that STEM was one domain where the gender divide was particularly severe (Hill, Corbett, & St Rose, 2010), and that the male advantage in the STEM areas began early and persisted throughout the life span (Coyle & Liben, 2020). Similarly, gender‐specific skills and related educational pursuits and vocational interests started early, even before preschool (Fulcher, Sutfin, & Patterson, 2008).…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 83%

STEM learning attitude predicts computational thinking skills among primary school students

Sun

Yang

et al. 2020

Computer Assisted Learning

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Computational thinking (CT) plays a vital role in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). However, whether students' learning attitude towards STEM is related to their CT skills remains unknown. Two studies were conducted to address this knowledge gap. In Study 1, we validated a newly developed STEM learning attitude scale among a sample of Chinese primary school students (N = 489). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis results revealed that the scale which consisted of three factors (mathematics, science and information technology) could sufficiently measure primary school students' STEM learning attitude in the current sample. In Study 2, we explored the association between students' STEM learning attitude and their CT skills. Evidence revealed that learning attitude towards STEM significantly predicted CT skills. We also found that girls had a more positive learning attitude towards STEM than boys, and the fourth grade might be the key period for the development of CT skills. Implications for promoting primary school students' STEM learning and CT skills were also discussed.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 83%

STEM learning attitude predicts computational thinking skills among primary school students

Sun

Yang

et al. 2020

Computer Assisted Learning

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“…Gender‐stereotyped toys provided different types of affordances for children's exploratory play, with building and block toys allowing for engineering‐related exploration, while doll play invites exploration through pretend play and social interaction. In a recent study, Coyle and Liben () tested a gendered building toy marketed to girls (GoldieBlox) and compared it to a version they created that was named to suggest that it was a stereotypical boys' toy (BobbyBlox). They found evidence that marketing changed children's learning.…”

Section: Exploratory Play and Causal Thinkingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a study with older children (11‐ to 13‐year‐olds), Tenenbaum and Leaper () found that parents believed science was more difficult and less interesting for their daughters than for their sons, despite the fact that there were no gender differences in children's science grades or expressed interest in science. Also, in the Coyle and Liben () article discussed earlier, parents talked differently to girls and boys about the STEM‐related toys, focusing more on reading the narrative instructions with girls and on building with boys. As with exploring, previous research on explaining in parent–child conversation makes clear that children's gender is an important variable to consider in our analyses.…”

Section: Explanatory Conversation and Causal Thinkingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploration, Explanation, and Parent–Child Interaction in Museums

Callanan

Legare²,

Sobel³

et al. 2020

Monographs Society Res Child

106

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Young children develop causal knowledge through everyday family conversations and activities. Children's museums are an informative setting for studying the social context of causal learning because family members engage together in everyday scientific thinking as they play in museums. In this multisite collaborative project, we investigate children's developing causal thinking in the context of family interaction at museum exhibits. We focus on explaining and exploring as two fundamental collaborative processes in parent–child interaction, investigating how families explain and explore in open‐ended collaboration at gear exhibits in three children's museums in Providence, RI, San Jose, CA, and Austin, TX. Our main research questions examined (a) how open‐ended family exploration and explanation relate to one another to form a dynamic for children's learning; (b) how that dynamic differs for families using different interaction styles, and relates to contextual factors such as families' science background, and (c) how that dynamic predicts children's independent causal thinking when given more structured tasks. We summarize findings on exploring, explaining, and parent–child interaction (PCI) styles. We then present findings on how these measures related to one another, and finally how that dynamic predicts children's causal thinking. In studying children's exploring we described two types of behaviors of importance for causal thinking: (a) Systematic Exploration: Connecting gears to form a gear machine followed by spinning the gear machine. (b) Resolute Behavior: Problem‐solving behaviors, in which children attempted to connect or spin a particular set of gears, hit an obstacle, and then persisted to succeed (as opposed to moving on to another behavior). Older children engaged in both behaviors more than younger children, and the proportion of these behaviors were correlated with one another. Parents and children talked to each other while interacting with the exhibits. We coded causal language, as well as other types of utterances. Parents' causal language predicted children's causal language, independent of age. The proportion of parents' causal language also predicted the proportion of children's systematic exploration. Resolute behavior on the part of children did not correlate with parents' causal language, but did correlate with children's own talk about actions and the exhibit. We next considered who set goals for the play in a more holistic measure of parent–child interaction style, identifying dyads as parent‐directed, child‐directed, or jointly‐directed in their interaction with one another. Children in different parent–child interaction styles engaged in different amounts of systematic exploration and had parents who engaged in different amounts of causal language. Resolute behavior and the language related to children engaging in such troubleshooting, seemed more consistent across the three parent–child interaction styles. Using general linear mixed modeling, we considered relations within s...

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“…And there is evidence that the types of toys with which children play might bring about specific types of behaviors. In fact, researchers have even suggested that gender differences in spatial abilities might be attributable to differences in the toys parents select for girls versus boys ( Todd et al, 2016 ; Coyle and Liben, 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Natural Variability in Parent-Child Puzzle Play at Home

et al. 2021

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Here, we observed 3- to 4-year-old children (N=31) and their parents playing with puzzles at home during a zoom session to provide insight into the variability of the kinds of puzzles children have in their home, and the variability in how children and their parents play with spatial toys. We observed a large amount of variability in both children and parents’ behaviors, and in the puzzles they selected. Further, we found relations between parents’ and children’s behaviors. For example, parents provided more scaffolding behaviors for younger children and parents’ persistence-focused language was related to more child attempts after failure. Altogether, the present work shows how using methods of observing children at a distance, we can gain insight into the environment in which they are developing. The results are discussed in terms of how variability in spatial toys and spatial play during naturalistic interactions can help us contextualize the conclusions we draw from lab-based studies.

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Gendered Packaging of a STEM Toy Influences Children's Play, Mechanical Learning, and Mothers’ Play Guidance

Cited by 24 publications

References 43 publications

STEM learning attitude predicts computational thinking skills among primary school students

STEM learning attitude predicts computational thinking skills among primary school students

Exploration, Explanation, and Parent–Child Interaction in Museums

Natural Variability in Parent-Child Puzzle Play at Home

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