STEM Learning in the Early Home Environment: A Cross-Cultural Study

In an era that highly values innovative science and advanced technology, a lack of appropriate support in STEM learning will place a child at a disadvantage when pursuing academic and professional success. Despite the rigorous attention paid to parental support of early math learning and other aspects of STEM development, the majority of work in this area has been conducted in North America, leaving us with little understanding of cultural differences and similarities in parental STEM-related practices and influences. We are conducting a study that systematically investigates the STEM learning environment that American vs. Chinese parents provide to their preschoolers, and its impact on early mathematical and STEM development. The data collection phase for Chinese families is completed and we now invite American families with 4- or 5-year-olds to our lab at Harvard Square for a one-time, 1.5-hour visit. During the study, parent(s) will play fun activities together with their child, and will fill out a parental survey while their child plays interactive computer-based games with a trained researcher. If you are interested in participating or would like to receive more information, please contact rowelab@gse.harvard.edu.

Comprehensive Parenting Education as a Preventative Measure

With generous funding from the Caplan Foundation for Early Childhood we are partnering with ParenTeach to implement a parenting curricula in high schools in Illinois. Our goal is to prepare high school students for their future roles as caregivers, including their role in supporting children’s early learning and cognitive development. We are currently examining the efficacy of the program in a sample of over 200 students in public schools.  

The Development, Implementation, and Evaluation of an Early Language Development Parenting Program for Social Assistance Community Centers in Brazil

This project represents the first steps to positively impact the home environments and early developmental trajectories of disadvantaged children in Ceara, Brazil. We will do this by implementing a parenting program in community centers and evaluating the effects on parent-child interactions. Dr. Rowe and Lizzie Baird are developing the intervention content. The research study is being led by Dr. Flavio Cunha and Dr. Guilherme Irffi. This collaborative project is funded by the Lemann Brazil Research Fund at the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Harvard University.

Understanding the Scalability of Parenting Strategies Designed to Promote Key Virtues

This is a collaborative study between the Rowe Lab and Making Caring Common, funded by the John Templeton Foundation. The goal is to examine the take-up and implementation of evidence-based strategies and activities that support the development of three key virtues in children—empathy, gratitude, and diligence. We are currently conducting this study with a diverse sample of 270 American families with 7-10 year old children. 

PLAY and Learning across a Year

We are a coding site for the PLAY project.
See here for more information about the larger collaborative study.