A Building Block for Science Talk: Educational TV Supports Parent–Child Conversations During an Engineering Activity

We investigated the impact of parents’ open-ended questions during collaborative science activities. Specifically, we randomly assigned 116 parents (69.8% mothers; 89.7% White) and their 4-to 7-year-old children (50.9% girls; 87.9% White) to watch science television before or after completing an engineering activity. Using sequence analysis, we examined the conversational exchanges elicited by parents’ openended questions. Two patterns emerged: knowledge elaboration sequences occurred when children formulated science explanations, and knowledge gap sequences occurred when children revealed their lack of knowledge. Watching science television before (vs. after) the engineering activity promoted knowledge elaboration sequences but had no impact on knowledge gap sequences. These patterns did not vary according to children’s age. Collectively, our results offer empirical support for the notion that parents’ open-ended questions elicit two types of responses from children during collaborative science activities. Furthermore, our results suggest that science television might serve as a conversational support during those activities.