The key to the United States winning the international race for the most STEM workers may be allowing鈥攁nd even encouraging鈥攌ids to ask 鈥渨hy? why? why?鈥�
All children have some level of innate curiosity that drives them to explore the way things work. But parents can cultivate that curiosity by exposing their children to new ideas and encouraging them to ask questions. And doing so could lead to effects that unfold for years, Adele E. Gottfried, a professor of educational psychology at California State University Northridge, said at the American Psychological Association Convention.
In a study of 118 children and their parents, Gottfried found that parents鈥� answers on a survey, taken when their children were 8, about their efforts to encourage creativity correlated strongly with their children鈥檚 interest and ability in science during the middle school years and, later, their enrollment in greater numbers of science courses in high school.
鈥淓xploration is the central foundation of scientific endeavors,鈥� Gottfried said. So children who鈥檝e learned to search for answers without the promise of an extrinsic reward may be more skilled at it or drawn to it.
Like so much research presented at the conference, which ended Sunday, Gottfried鈥檚 work shows the importance of strong early parental involvement in a child鈥檚 life. My colleague Sarah Sparks and I also heard about studies that show how a supportive parental relationship gives young children鈥檚 brains the necessary time to grow connections crucial to emotional regulation, and how homeless shelters are working to target efforts at for their clients.
So what are educators to do with this research?
In the case of curiosity, Gottfried told me that teachers should also encourage students to ask questions. Maybe schools can serve a role in making up for lost time. In a time of tight school budgets, this might be support for the argument that a field trip or two is still important.
Here鈥檚 a bit more about the study.
Gottfried found the answers to these questions had the strongest correlation to a child鈥檚 later interest and achievement in science:
- Positive answers to 鈥淚 try to expose my child to new experiences on a weekly basis.鈥�
- Positive answers to 鈥淥n a weekly basis, I try to expose my child to experiences that make him/her curious.鈥�
- Parents who said they took family trips to scientific, historical, or art museums.
- Parents who more frequently 鈥渆ncourage your child to ask questions about new ideas.鈥�
Scientific achievement was measured through teachers鈥� ratings and a Woodcock-Johnson test (a measurement of cognitive abilities in a given area) administered at age 9.
A child鈥檚 interest in science was measured through a survey at ages 9, 10, and 13 that asked students to agree or disagree with statements like 鈥淚 enjoy learning new things in science鈥� and 鈥淚 like to find new answers to questions.鈥�
Gottfried鈥檚 subjects were mostly white. She found her results were the same when she controlled for factors like intelligence and socioeconomic status.