Early Childhood Science and Engineering: Engaging Platforms for Fostering Domain-General Learning Skills

Abstract

Early childhood science and engineering education offer a prime context to foster approaches-to-learning (ATL) and executive functioning (EF) by eliciting children’s natural curiosity about the world, providing a unique opportunity to engage children in hands-on learning experiences that promote critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, persistence, and other adaptive domain-general learning skills. Indeed, in any science experiment or engineering problem, children make observations, engage in collaborative conversations with teachers and peers, and think flexibly to come up with predictions or potential solutions to their problem. Inherent to science and engineering is the idea that one learns from initial failures within an iterative trial-and-error process where children practice risk-taking, persistence, tolerance for frustration, and sustaining focus. Unfortunately, science and engineering instruction is typically absent from early childhood classrooms, and particularly so in programs that serve children from low-income families. However, our early science and engineering intervention research shows teachers how to build science and engineering instruction into activities that are already happening in their classrooms, which boosts their confidence and removes some of the stigma around science and engineering. In this paper, we discuss the promise of research that uses early childhood science and engineering experiences as engaging, hands-on, interactive platforms to instill ATL and EF in young children living below the poverty line. We propose that early childhood science and engineering offer a central theme that captures children’s attention and allows for integrated instruction across domain-general (ATL, EF, and social–emotional) and domain-specific (e.g., language, literacy, mathematics, and science) content, allowing for contextualized experiences that make learning more meaningful and captivating for children.

Nascent Inquiry, Metacognitive, and Self-Regulation Capabilities Among Preschoolers During Scientific Exploration

“…It is fundamental to direct any activity with suitable inquiries and practices, rather than tell the children what to do ( Tunnicliffe, 2015 ). The engagement with scientific thinking skills in such varied ways provides children with opportunities to develop other skills, such as mathematical language and social skills ( Bustamante et al, 2018 ). Moreover, science learning and the scientific inquiry process provide stimulating contexts for the development of metacognitive and self-regulation capabilities ( Michalsky et al, 2007 ; Zimmerman, 2008 ; Jirout and Zimmerman, 2015 ).…”

Questions in a Life‐Sized Board Game: Comparing Caregivers' and Children's Question‐Asking across STEM Museum Exhibits

“…Curiosity and question‐asking are at the heart of STEM instruction, which relies on asking scientific questions to form hypotheses (see Klahr, Zimmerman, & Jirout, 2011 for a review). Children are naturally curious about scientific domains (Bustamante, Greenfield, & Nayfeld, 2018; Jirout & Zimmerman, 2015). When they become uncertain of something, they deal with it by asking questions.…”

Engineering play with blocks as an informal learning context for executive function and planning

“…The literature indicates EF and planning are linked and preschoolers, including those with disabilities, develop planning skills as part of general EF ability (Hughes et al, 2010;Pellicano, 2010). Despite evidence that EF skills may be improved during block play, early educators struggle to implement EF, planning, and related problem-solving principles into classroom curricula (Bustamante et al, 2018;Schmitt et al, 2018). Simultaneously, scholars suggest that play-based assessment may be an ecologically valid approach for understanding and supporting early cognitive skills, especially for young children with disabilities (e.g., Clements et al, 2020;Kelly-Vance & Ryalls, 2008).…”