Penny Noyce MD Tumblehome Books MSLA Annual Conference March 31 2019 wwwtumblehomebooksorg Tumblehomes mission To inspire kids to envision themselves as scientists and engineers Relevant research ID: 805945
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Slide1
How can narrative boost kids’ interest in science?
Penny Noyce, M.D.
Tumblehome Books
MSLA Annual Conference
March 31, 2019
www.tumblehomebooks.org
Slide2Tumblehome's mission:
To inspire kids to envision themselves as
scientists and engineers
Slide3Relevant research
What happens to kids’ science interest as they move through middle school?
What predicts whether students will choose to major in science?
How does interest develop?
What do we know about how students respond to reading about science?
Tumblehome’s thinking and book recommendations
Slide4Interest in science falls during middle school…
Slide5But only for 25% of kids.
(Falk et. al. 2016)
Slide6What factors affect whether a student will major in STEM?
Best predictor: what they say they want to be at the end of 8
th
grade.
(Tai
et.al
.
, 2006)
Role models are important. “You can’t be what you can’t see.”
-Marian Wright Edelman
College students who view science programs and read about science are 1.7 – 7.0 more times more likely to select a STEM major than those who don’t.
(Dabney
et. al, 2017)
Slide7Renninger
and
Hidi’s Four-Phase Model of Interest Development
Triggered situational interest
- Sparked from outside (story, conversation, phenomenon, museum display)
- In text, may come from surprising event, incongruous information, or a compelling character
- Leads to positive emotion, improved reading comprehension, attention, and integration of knowledge.
Can you think of a book that does this?
Slide8a mysterious rock
a most unusual fish
What sparks a character’s interest?
Slide9Phase Two: Maintained situational interest
- Persists over an extended episode or repeated activity or experience
- Conducive learning environments include project-based learning, cooperative group work and projects, individual tutoring
- Think of afterschool clubs, design challenges, maker spaces, favorite authors or book series.
Can you think of a library experience that does this?
Slide10Who will keep the little kids safe?
Why are fish dying?
How does a character’s interest grow?
Slide11Phase Three: Emerging individual interest
Signified by repeated re-engagement with certain content
- Motivated by positive feelings (sense of competence or emerging expertise?) and stored knowledge
- Individuals begin to formulate their own “curiosity questions.”
Can you think of students who have reached this stage? What experiences helped bring them there?
Slide12Mosquitoes, malaria, identity
Galactic Academy of Science
How does a character’s own curiosity and commitment take over?
Slide13Phase Four: Well-developed interest
Characterized by positive feelings, stored knowledge, strong value placed on certain content
Repeated engagement and work on content can feel effortless at times
Growing sense of competence, self-efficacy, autonomy
Is this where academic persistence and grit come from? Do you know some kids like this?
Slide14Capturing electric power
Microplastics and Engineering
Characters who persist and overcome
Slide15How do students respond to reading narrative about science?
Avraamidou
and Osborne, 2009:
In contrast to the language of science, which may make learners feel excluded from the adult world of truth,
fictional narrative is central
to the way kids and others make sense of the world and communicate their understanding to others.
Many top scientists can point to a book that inspired them at an early age. Often mentioned:
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
and
The Microbe Hunters.
Slide16What happens to students’ achievement when they read narrative about science?
Romance and Vitale, 1992:
An integrated reading and science block in 3 4
th
-grade classrooms led to improved reading scores relative to controls, plus more positive attitudes and greater confidence in learning science.
Fang and Wei, 2010:
Sixth graders who participated in a year-long curriculum integrating science reading and inquiry significantly outperformed inquiry-only peers on measures of scientific literacy such as vocabulary and comprehension.
Slide17“Even Einstein struggled”
Lin-Siegler
et. al.,
2016
472 ninth and tenth-grade students read 800-word essays about three famous physicists: Einstein, Curie, and Faraday.
Three versions: one emphasized the scientists’ accomplishments, one their intellectual mistakes and struggles, one their personal and family struggles.
Students who read either of the “struggle” versions improved their science grades;, while the others did not. Benefits were concentrated in low-performing students.
Slide18Free copy at Tumblehome table
Scientists and inventors, struggles and all
Slide19We need more studies!
Slide20Our philosophy and approach
Slide21To inspire kids to envision themselves as scientists and engineers
Slide22Issues with existing children’s science literature
“Science fiction” is often magical or raises technology above character
Some protagonists are unrelatable geniuses –brilliant from the start.
Characters often lack diversity.
Few books show the process of science.
Literature tends to be ahistorical.
Not much written for kids by scientists.
Nonfiction often dumbs down content or has too many distracting popups.
Slide23Tumblehome publishes science-related fiction, nonfiction, and biographies
Our sweet spot is middle-grade fiction
Protagonists often come to science reluctantly after a discrepant event (or phenomenon) sparks their interest
Lots of girls!
Slide24Galactic Academy of Science
- Series of ten books for grades 4-7
- Diverse characters
- Two middle-school students travel through time, visiting scientists of the past, to solve mysteries or fight dangers in the present
Scientists from across the globe – ancient Egypt, Persia, India, New Guinea, China, Europe, and the U.S.
Topics include electronics, fossils, space, food safety, vaccines, hacking, brain science, climate, and… zombies!
Slide25We work with scientists to help them translate their most exciting work for children without dumbing it down.
Slide26We are actively seeking partners for future research proposals on how reading about science can interact with ELA and science classwork. Questions include:
How can librarians partner with science and ELA classroom teachers to encourage more reading that features science?
How can teachers and librarians use science/engineering activities and books together?
How does reading fiction about science affect students’ motivation and performance in science?
Slide27More questions:
Are effects of reading on motivation and achievement topic-specific?
Do the gender and ethnicity of protagonists and
other characters matter?
What features of books lead students to connect with their own science identity?
Slide28And what about poetry?
What if a teacher reads a science poem to start each class?
Even classic scientific papers can be reformatted and read as poetry.
Slide29Visit us!
www.tumblehomebooks.org
Fill out a short questionnaire for a free book and a chance to win a “library box” of ten more.
View and download our free one-week curriculum unit on Resisting Scientific Misinformation (grades 6-12)
Tell us what sorts of science books you’d like to see!