September 1st, 2007 - December 31st, 2010 | PROJECT
Many informal science and mathematics education projects employ multiple media, assuming that educational benefits will extend beyond those of a single medium. However, this assumption has not been tested empirically in a comprehensive way. This research uses Cyberchase (a multiple-media, informal mathematics project for 8- to 11-year-olds) to investigate synergy among multiple media components and how they interact to yield cumulative educational outcomes. Research questions: (1) How does mathematics learning from multiple media differ from learning from a single medium? (2) What outcomes derive from engagement with different types of media and what types of synergy occur? (3) How can reliable research methods be developed to assess contributions of individual media and their interactions? (4) How can informal education projects capitalize on the strengths of each medium? (5) How can media components be designed and employed to best complement each other? The research has four phases: (1) Preparatory - Recruit participants nationally with parental consent. Finalize methods and measures. (2) Naturalistic - Track naturalistic use of various Cyberchase media among 600-800 third and fourth graders. Assess mathematical problem solving and attitudes toward math. (3) Experimental - Establish causality by assigning a subset of the participants (N = 300-400) to several experimental conditions that are exposed to different combinations of Cyberchase media. Measure change in attitudes and problem solving from pretest to posttest. (4) Analysis - Employ appropriate regression and model fitting analyses to analyze the naturalistic and experimental data, and to synthesize the two. Because of the paucity of relevant existing research, this research will shed light on the educational impact of Cyberchase and on the design and assessment of multiple-media approaches to informal STEM education overall. It will advance our theoretical understanding of children's informal mathematics learning - specifically, how children learn from various media, what strengths each medium brings to bear, and what synergy might exist among media - and inform the best practice design and evaluation of future informal projects that use multiple media.
Project Website(s)
(no project website provided)
Project Products
Cyberchase Season 5 Pilot Summative Research: Quasi-Experimental Pilot Test - FULL STUDY
http://www.pbs.org/parents/cyberchase/show/nsfstudy
Children's Learning from Multiple Media in Informal Mathematics Education
Team Members
Shalom Fisch, Principal Investigator, MediaKidz Research & ConsultingRichard Lesh, Co-Principal Investigator, Indian University
Vincent Melfi, Co-Principal Investigator, Michigan State University
Sandra Crespo, Co-Principal Investigator, Michigan State University
Sandra Sheppard, Co-Principal Investigator, Educational Broadcasting Corporation
Funders
Funding Source: NSF
Funding Program: ISE/AISL
Award Number: 0723829
Funding Amount: 1210320
Tags
Audience: Elementary School Children (6-10) | Evaluators | Middle School Children (11-13) | Museum | ISE Professionals
Discipline: Education and learning science | Mathematics
Resource Type: Project Descriptions
Environment Type: Broadcast Media | Media and Technology | Websites | Mobile Apps | Online Media