ERIC Number: EJ1279090
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1040-9289
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Engineering Play, Mathematics, and Spatial Skills in Children with and without Disabilities
Gold, Zachary S.; Elicker, James; Kellerman, Ashleigh M.; Christ, Sharon; Mishra, Aura A.; Howe, Nina
Early Education and Development, v32 n1 p49-65 2021
Research Findings: Engineering play is a new framework for understanding constructive block building as a design process. The current study examined associations between engineering play with wooden unit blocks and mathematics and spatial skills of children with and without disabilities. Participants included 110 preschoolers (44% female; 25% children with disabilities), ages 49-72 months (M = 58.47, SD = 4.46), from the Midwest United States. A confirmatory factor analysis resulted in one engineering play factor including six of the nine engineering play behaviors with good model fit. Correcting for nesting and controlling for demographic covariates in marginal regression models, there was a significant positive association between engineering play and spatial horizontal rotation skills, [beta] = 0.19. Moderation analyses revealed a significant positive association between engineering play and geometry for children with disabilities, [beta] = 0.28. Practice or Policy: Findings provide initial evidence that engineering play is related to mathematics and spatial development and may be an important educational approach for supporting cognitive skills and school readiness in typically developing children and children with disabilities.
Descriptors: Mathematics Skills, Numeracy, Spatial Ability, Geometric Concepts, STEM Education, Preschool Children, Correlation, Play, Disabilities, Manipulative Materials, Instructional Effectiveness, Skill Development, School Readiness, At Risk Persons, Federal Programs, Engineering, Disadvantaged Youth
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A