Cooking up STEM: Adding wh-questions to a recipe increases family STEM talk

Everyday activities such as cooking a meal are natural opportunities for “challenging” family talk, which promotes cognitive development by prompting explanations and elaborations. Our study investigates a light intervention to increase the frequency of challenging family STEM talk during an everyda...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied developmental psychology 2023-07, Vol.88, p.101581, Article 101581
Main Authors: Morris, Bradley J., Zhang, Yin, Asaro, Katie, Cason, Jacob, Pollock, Brian, St. Clair, Kristen, Owens, Whitney
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Family talk
Light intervention
STEM intervention
STEM talk
Wh-question prompts
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Summary:Everyday activities such as cooking a meal are natural opportunities for “challenging” family talk, which promotes cognitive development by prompting explanations and elaborations. Our study investigates a light intervention to increase the frequency of challenging family STEM talk during an everyday activity. Sixty-two families with children (mean age = 9.49) recorded their conversations while popping popcorn using either a standard recipe or a recipe with embedded wh-question prompts (e.g., Why did some kernels not pop?). Conversations were transcribed and coded to measure four qualities of challenging STEM talk: STEM words, STEM explanations, spontaneous questions, and elaborations (or interactive turn-taking). The results demonstrate that families who received wh-question prompts embedded into the recipe produced 3–5 times more instances of challenging STEM talk than families who received no prompts. These results provide evidence for a light intervention that increases family STEM talk through a familiar, everyday activity.
ISSN:0193-3973
1873-7900
DOI:10.1016/j.appdev.2023.101581