NATURAL CURIOSITY

PROJECT NARRATIVE This research examined the impact of nature-based outdoor learning environments on the formation of STEAM concepts in preschoolers. Preschool age (3-5 years) is the time when physical interaction with surrounding built environments increases, and spontaneous learning from the environment intensifies – making it an ideal age range to promote nature-based informal learning. An outdoor learning environment can influence STEAM concept formations of preschoolers with an intentional design that offers STEAM learning affordances. Moreover, STEAM learning is directly connected with children's cognitive development. Measuring the cognitive achievements of young children is more difficult than that of older ones because young children experience vast variations in the different personal, developmental, and environmental factors affecting their behaviors. Several assessment tools are available for evaluating childcare settings and assessing science learning within the classroom context. However, research shows that the outdoor physical environment of early childcare facilities has a long-lasting influence on cognitive development as well as on the quality of STEAM learning of children. Therefore, assessment tools to evaluate the quality of the outdoor physical environment that facilitates STEAM learning activities have now become paramount in the field of early childhood education.

 

RESEARCH METHOD: In the initial phase of this research (during 2023-2024), a scoping review evaluates the existing knowledge regarding the physical factors contributing to STEAM learning affordances in an outdoor environment for children aged 3 to 5. As the final outcome, the review identifies key STEAM learning behaviors of children and STEAM activity-supportive settings that may positively influence preschoolers' STEAM concept development. Simultaneously, a systematic review documents all the existing tools available for assessing (a) the quality of the childcare outdoor environment and (b) the STEAM learning of children aged 3 to 5 outside the classroom context, addressing the current lack of reliable and valid assessment measures in this emerging field. The synthesis of information from those studies revealed that STEAM-based outdoor learning at the preschool age is quite a new topic and that there are no assessment tools or indicators that can assess the available opportunities in the outdoor environment and their affordances of STEAM learning activities and activity settings of early childcare centers. The second part (mid-2024 to 2025) will involve analyzing an existing childcare's nature-based outdoor learning environment using ArcGIS-based behavior mapping and video data. This analysis will be done to explore the effectiveness of STEAM-supporting settings identified in the reviewed studies. Based on phases 1 and 2, a list of indicators for assessing the quality of childcare outdoor environment for STEAM learning will be developed. In the final stage, an intervention will be carried out on a specific site (pre- and post-research intervention), which will involve constructing STEAM-supportive settings that were identified in phase 1. Using the assessment indicators that were identified in phase 2 after the intervention, this research will analyze how those nature-based STEAM supportive settings in the childcare outdoor learning environment influence informal STEAM learning of preschoolers.

 

SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS STUDY: Through intentional design elements, outdoor learning environments can significantly impact STEAM education by providing learning opportunities and creating informal settings essential for STEAM education. This research identifies the STEAM learning affordances of an outdoor learning environment that enhances preschool-aged children's engagement in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) learning through their interactions with nature. This study identifies several STEAM learning behaviors of children and STEAM activity-supportive settings, which can guide design modification efforts to transform mundane playgrounds into engaging and affordance-rich outdoor learning landscapes to stimulate young children's STEAM learning. These settings and affordances that foster a conducive learning atmosphere could significantly enhance the quality of early childhood STEAM education. This research also underscores the critical need for reliable and valid assessment tools tailored specifically for assessing the STEAM learning affordances and quality of outdoor learning environments of child-care centers. To advance early childhood education, this research will develop effective assessment indicators that could be adaptable to the unique aspects of the outdoor learning environment, ensuring that all children could benefit from high-quality STEAM learning regardless of their level of active participation in structured activities. The outcomes of this research could potentially inform policy and curriculum development in early childhood education by integrating more outdoor, nature-based STEAM learning experiences into preschool formal/informal education. Adapting these STEAM learning supportive settings to develop existing childcare/preschool outdoor environments could be a significant and pivotal step in moving towards more experiential and environment-based learning approaches in early childhood education.