Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2025

DOI

10.3389/feduc.2025.1568153

Publication Title

Frontiers in Education

Volume

10

Pages

1568153 (1-19)

Abstract

Introduction: Informal STEM learning experiences include visits to museums, zoos, and aquariums as well as experiments and other activities performed at home. Family involvement in these experiences has been linked to increased student interest and participation in STEM fields; yet, scant research has been conducted on at-home STEM.

Methods: This descriptive case study investigated the tinkering experiences of nine rural middle school students and their families who participated in a series of interactive, at-home activities. The overarching research question was, in what ways do families engage in at-home STEM interventions? Data analyses of at-home audio recordings were guided by the Learning Dimensions of Making & Tinkering framework. Follow-up interviews with families about their informal STEM experiences were a secondary data source used to contextualize family dynamics.

Results: Overall, families who engaged in at-home STEM activities were most likely to demonstrate Social & Emotional Engagement (e.g., Collaborating and Working in Teams) and Creativity & Self-Expression (e.g., Expressing Joy and Delight), and were least likely to exhibit Initiative & Intentionality. Engagement patterns differed based on family (dynamics and backgrounds), family participant group type (number of parents and children in groups), and the STEM activity. Rich descriptions and vignettes illustrate the moment-to-moment experiences of families as they engaged in at-home STEM together. Additional evidence was gleaned through family interviews. Families valued their time together and tinkered in ways that stimulated their self-expression, creativity, and social and emotional skills.

Discussion: Recommendations for professional developers include attention to the order of activity difficulty, length of time required, inclusion of conceptual material, and allowing time for failure and risk-taking. Researcher recommendations suggest ways to streamline the data collection and analyses to ease the resources required to study other populations of interest.

Rights

© 2025 Gutierrez, Swanson and Blanchard.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original authors and the copyright owners are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

Data Availability

Article states: "The datasets presented in this article are not readily available because the IRB consent form signed by consenting minors states that data will be restricted in its raw form for researchers working on the project only. Requests to access the datasets should be directed to kgutierr@odu.edu."

ORCID

0000-0002-9339-7574 (Gutierrez)

Original Publication Citation

Gutierrez, K. S., Swanson, K. J., & Blanchard, M. R. (2025). Rural families’ at-home STEM tinkering stimulates creativity, self-expression, and social-emotional engagement. Frontiers in Education, 10, 1-19, Article 1568153. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2025.1568153

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