MORNING PLENARY PRESENTATION
Issues and Opportunities in PreK-3 STEM Education
Janice Earle, National Science Foundation; Susan Carey, Harvard University; Doug Clements, University of Denver; Kimberlee Kiehl, Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center; Karen Worth, Wheelock College
In a moderated panel, four early childhood leaders discuss critical STEM-specific issues related to formal and informal preK–3 educational settings. Panelists share research and practice knowledge about early childhood teaching and learning developed over the past several decades. This session serves as a jump-off point for the day's conversations and sessions.
MORNING BREAKOUT SESSIONS
Self-Regulation and Cognitive Control: Why Executive Functions Matter For Early Stem Education
Susan Carey, Harvard University
Many skills, such as those that underlie reading readiness and mastery of counting, play an important role in success in school. However, there is also a suite of very general cognitive processes—the executive functions—that undergo massive development through preschool, elementary, and even late adolescence. In this session, the presenter will characterize the executive functions, give examples in both early arithmetic and early science, and discuss the importance and implications of this work for the preschool and early elementary curriculum.
Supporting the Development of Models and Modeling
Richard Lehrer, Vanderbilt University; Liz Penner, Verona Area School District, WI
In this session, the presenters describe and exemplify how involving children (including grades K–3) in the production of representations and models of local ecosystems bootstraps their emerging understandings about ecosystem composition and function. The presenters illustrate how model construction and revision are ways of binding related practices of posing questions, constructing and analyzing data, communicating, and planning and conducting investigations. They also describe how this work is sustained and elaborated in a community of teachers.
Supports for Preschool STEM Learners and the Teachers Who Teach Them:
Kimberly Brenneman, National Institute for Early Education Research
A collaboration between researchers and educators, the SciMath-DLL project involves the design, development, and testing of a professional development model that integrates supports for dual language learners with high-quality math and science instruction. In this session, the presenter describes the evidence that supports SciMath-DLL, engages participants in hands-on activities that illustrate the project’s approach to professional development, and leads an interactive discussion of challenges to, and promising solutions for, implementation of effective, research-based practice.
Technology and the Future of Preschool: Developmentally Appropriate and Evidence-Based Approaches to Integrating Technology in the Classroom
Phil Vahey and Ximena Dominguez, SRI International; Ashley Lewis Presser, Education Development Center, Inc.
Next Generation Preschool Math (NGPM) is an NSF-funded project addressing the following questions: (1) What, if any, are the most appropriate roles for technology in the preschool classroom? (2) How can technology, if used appropriately, provide unique affordances for teaching and early learning? The presenters discuss how their curriculum activity system framework guides their evidence-based design process, presents evidence of children’s learning, and talks about how the materials were used in the classroom. Recommendations for using the design approach more generally are also discussed.
The Building Blocks of Math
Doug Clements and Julie Sarama, University of Denver
What are the building blocks of mathematics? In this session, the presenters briefly summarize recent research and development work, including the National Research Council’s report on early childhood mathematics, President Bush’s National Math Advisory Panel, and the Common Core. One effective instructional approach featured in these reports is basing instruction on learning trajectories. This approach is illustrated in this session through a set of NSF- and U.S. DOE-funded projects that have developed and scaled up effective early math instruction.
The Young Scientist: Teaching and Learning Science in Preschool Classrooms
Karen Worth, Wheelock College; Jeff Winokur, Education Development Center, Inc.
In this session, the presenters offer a view of inquiry-based science teaching and learning in the preschool years, along with strategies for professional development. The work emphasizes the integration of science into a meaningful context in the developmentally appropriate classroom and the importance of maintaining challenging expectations for young children’s learning. Participants have the opportunity to review classroom documentation including video and student work, components of effective professional development, and evidence from recent research.
LUNCHTIME PLENARY PRESENTATION
Frontiers and Challenges of Early Childhood Research
Deborah Phillips, Professor, Georgetown University
While this meeting focuses on STEM education for grades preK–3, this presentation challenges participants to look at the broader topic of early childhood learning. In this session, current research findings related to (1) links between stress and early learning, (2) effective instruction, and (3) preK programs are discussed. The presenter also describes challenges arising from the current state of early education and from the shifting demographics of the United States’ early childhood population. Highlights from promising frontiers of research on early childhood learning are presented, followed by a question and answer session.
AFTERNOON BREAKOUT SESSIONS
Anywhere STEM Exploration: Supporting STEM Learning in Formal and Informal Settings with PEEP and the Big Wide World
Kate Taylor and Gay Mohrbacher, WGBH
In this session, WGBH provides an overview of the PEEP and the Big Wide World curriculum, as well as its approach to science inquiry with young children, and research findings from studies with both educators and children. With the PEEP curriculum as the foundation, WGBH showcases how PEEP resources have been adapted for use in a variety of formal and informal learning settings—from preschool classrooms to family childcare environments, to museums and Spanish-language family play groups.
Playscapes: Designed Nature Environments to Promote Informal Science Learning
Victoria Carr, Catherine Maltbie, and Leslie Kochanowski, University of Cincinnati
In theory, playing in nature is a pathway to learning science. Capturing empirical evidence of this learning, however, is challenging due to variables inherent in unstructured play, environmental disparities, and the definition of science learning for very young children. The presenters describe how they approached this research conundrum through a mixed-methods design and share results that support principles and practices for designing playscape environments that inspire play and promote STEM learning.
Ramps and Pathways: Integrating Physical Science and Engineering in Early Childhood
Betty Zan, University of Northern Iowa
Participants are introduced to an approach to engage young children (PreK–2nd grade) in physical science and engineering that is developmentally appropriate and intellectually rigorous. For example, as children design ramp structures that allow them to move objects (marbles, flat disks, etc.) down inclined planes, they learn about force and motion and engage in scientific and engineering practices from the Next Generation Science Standards. Through photos, video, and discussion, participants gain awareness of how young children’s learning about physical science and engineering can be supported in the classroom.
Scaffolding Young Math Learners to be Effective Spatial Problem Solvers
Beth Casey, Boston College
This presentation is based on a program of research documenting the key role of early spatial skills as important factors both in students’ early acquisition of arithmetic and in their later math reasoning skills. One focus of the presentation is on identifying critical developmental changes in spatial problem solving in young learners, and another focuses on strategies for effective scaffolding of spatially based math learning. Videotaped examples of effective spatial scaffolding used by parents and teachers are presented as examples of ways that various scaffolding methods can be applied through the use of spatial problems posed through stories, guided questioning, and design of activities.
The Missing T & E in Early Childhood STEM: Young Children as Programmers and Engineers
Marina Bers, Amanda Strawhacker and Amanda Sullivan, Tufts University
In this session, participants discover how to engage young children with developmentally appropriate curricula and new technologies with a playful approach. Most specifically, the session focuses on technology and engineering (i.e., the missing T & E of STEM) by providing participants opportunities to engage with the Scratch Jr. programming language and the KIWI robotics kit. The presentation includes videos of experiences with these technologies in early childhood classrooms as well as hands-on activities.
Young Children Explore the World: Seriously Amazing Experiences at the Smithsonian
Kimberlee Kiehl, Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center; Ann Caspari, Smithsonian Institution
Young children are careful observers, ask millions of questions, actively search for information, experiment and test new ideas, and are not at all shy about communicating their ideas. Through photos, stories, and interactive experiences, participants learn how the Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center, a lab school located within the walls of the Smithsonian Institution, is providing opportunities to grow and nurture these skills in a way that can be replicated in museums and schools across the country.
AFTERNOON PLENARY PRESENTATION
Reflections and Implications
Natalie Nielsen, National Research Council; Amy Beal, Anne Arundel County Public Schools, MD | View Presentation; Amy Reese, Howard County Public Schools, MD
This closing portion of the meeting begins with a reflection on the day’s learnings from the vantage point of presenters’ and participants’ own work and programs. Presenters also focus on implications for implementation of early childhood STEM education.