How can narrative boost kids’ interest in science?

1. How can narrative boost kids’ interest in science? Penny Noyce, M.D. Tumblehome Books MSLA Annual Conference March 31, 2019 www.tumblehomebooks.org

2. Tumblehome's mission:To inspire kids to envision themselves as scientists and engineers

3. Relevant 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

4. Interest in science falls during middle school…

5. But only for 25% of kids.(Falk et. al. 2016)

6. What factors affect whether a student will major in STEM? • Best predictor: what they say they want to be at the end of 8th 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)

7. Renninger and Hidi’sFour-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?

8. What sparks a character’s interest? a mysterious rock a most unusual fish

9. Phase 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?

10. How does a character’s interest grow? Who will keep the little kids safe? Why are fish dying?

11. Phase 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?

12. How does a character’s own curiosity and commitment take over? Mosquitoes, malaria, identity Galactic Academy of Science

13. Phase 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?

14. Characters who persist and overcome Capturing electric power Microplastics and Engineering

15. How 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.

16. What happens to students’ achievement when they read narrative about science? • Romance and Vitale, 1992: An integrated reading and science block in 3 4th-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.

17. “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.

18. Scientists and inventors, struggles and all Free copy at Tumblehome table

19. We need more studies!

20. Our philosophy and approach

21. To inspire kids to envision themselves as scientists and engineers

22. Issues 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.

23. Tumblehome 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!

24. Galactic 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!

25. We work with scientists to help them translate their most exciting work for children without dumbing it down.

26. We 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?

27. More 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?

28. And 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.

29. Visit 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!