October 1st, 2012 - September 30th, 2015 | PROJECT
WGBH Educational Foundation will create PEEP'S WORLD/EL MUNDO DE PEEP, a Web-based "Digital Hub," in both English and Spanish, to significantly increase the impact of the extensive collection of proven preschool science and math assets from the Emmy Award-winning TV show PEEP AND THE BIG WIDE WORLD®. This project will: (1) redesign the PEEP Web site, creating interactive media experiences that will contextualize existing content and take advantage of new Web design; (2) provide professional development for preschool educators; and (3) reach a new audience of family childcare educators, one that is woefully underserved when it comes to educational resources about science. Dissemination through a network of national organizations, including National Association of Family Child Care, National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies, National Head Start Association, National Education Association, AVANCE, and Committee for Hispanic Children and Families, will help engage the maximum number of educators and parents in the project. PEEP'S WORLD/EL MUNDO DE PEEP will provide resources for targeted audiences. Specifically these resources will provide: Children with multiple ways to engage with science or math content areas, including interactive games, animated stories, and live-action videos; Parents with guided experiences to facilitate their child's math and science play; Center-based preschool educators with a media-rich, year long science curriculum and professional development materials; and Family childcare educators with curriculum modules, integrated with media, focused on six science content areas, and professional development materials for home-care settings in English and in Spanish. The University of Massachusetts's Donahue Institute will conduct a formative evaluation of the family childcare educator resources: 200 Spanish-speaking and 200 English-speaking educators will pilot the curriculum modules and professional development videos. Concord Evaluation Group, Inc. will conduct a summative evaluation, consisting of a Family Web Site Experiment and a National Observational Study, to assess the extent to which the project is successful at achieving its intended impacts. A multifaceted national dissemination plan will include a robust social media strategy, implemented by a Spanish-speaking online community manager, to reach parents, and collaborations with early childhood education statewide systems to reach educators. The projects intended impacts are to: (1) help English- and Spanish-speaking preschoolers effectively apply science and mathematical inquiry and process skills; (2) empower English- and Spanish-speaking parents to feel more equipped and inclined to facilitate science and math exploration with their preschoolers; and, (3) provide center-based and family childcare educators with resources for incorporating math and science into their curricula and boosting their confidence in teaching these subjects. While many parents know how to read to their children, they do not typically know how to approach science or math investigations with their pre-schoolers. After parents, preschool educators are the most important promoters of a young child\'s learning. Yet, center-based and family childcare educators do not receive significant training in science, and thus lack confidence when conducting preschool science activities. By providing parents and educators resources for approaching preschool science and math, which meet their specific needs, PEEP will help alleviate these challenges.
Project Website(s)
(no project website provided)
Project Products
2014 Poster: Peep and the Big Wide World
Formative Evaluation: Use of PEEP Online Professional Development Modules and Curriculum Units with Family Child Care Providers
Evaluation of PEEP and the Big Wide World Resources for Families
2016 Poster: Peep and the Big Wide World
Peep and the Big Wide World: User Experience Study
Team Members
Marisa Wolsky, Principal Investigator, WGBHKate Taylor, Co-Principal Investigator, WGBH
Funders
Funding Source: NSF
Funding Program: DRK-12
Award Number: 1222607
Funding Amount: 2549113
Tags
Access and Inclusion: English Language Learners | Ethnic | Racial | Hispanic | Latinx Communities
Audience: Educators | Teachers | Museum | ISE Professionals | Parents | Caregivers | Pre-K Children (0-5)
Discipline: General STEM | Mathematics
Resource Type: Project Descriptions
Environment Type: Broadcast Media | Informal | Formal Connections | Media and Technology | Professional Development | Conferences | Networks | Professional Development and Workshops | Websites | Mobile Apps | Online Media