Research Project
Se A, Jiaqi, Shruti, Quinten
Today we brainstormed on the research proposal as a team, and we landed on the research question :
How could we ensure COVID/any other potential pandemic-level infection does not cast negative long-term effect on kids in elementary and middle school? (On both their mental and physical well-beings)
You can view the miro board below to check out the details.⬇️
Feb 21th
We updated our research plan, presented it in front of the class, and received feedback from our peers.
⬇️ please browse our presentation
Research plan breakdown:
Reframed research question:
How could we ensure COVID/any other potential pandemic-level infection do not cast negative long-term effects on kids’ social capabilities and behavior in elementary school?
Background:
Development in middle childhood is marked by both physical maturation and the increased importance of social influences as children make their way through elementary school.
Thus, compared to college students, elementary kids have different needs and life routines. We
Initial Research:
Because our main stakeholder would be elementary kids age between 6 to 13. It is necessary to understand their psychological features and how environmental factors would influence their development. So we looked into child development theories, which focus on explaining how children change and grow over the course of childhood from social, emotional, and cognitive growth aspects.
In this cohort study of early childhood development in 2441 mothers and children, higher levels of screen time in children aged 24 and 36 months were associated with poor performance on a screening measure assessing children’s achievement of development milestones at 36 and 60 months, respectively.
This finding suggests that excessive screen time can impinge on children’s ability to develop optimally; it is recommended that pediatricians and health care practitioners guide parents on appropriate amounts of screen exposure and discuss potential consequences of excessive screen use.
Approaches:
When we started thinking about research approaches we thought about them in terms of the four categories and we phrased them as questions. We first looked at generative approaches like figuring out what are the pain points that students, parents, and teachers might have. Next, we looked at descriptive approaches like measuring screen time across devices. After that were evaluative and casual approaches.
Stakeholders:
We made a really simple stakeholder map to see the main interactions between key stakeholders. Families, schools, and peer groups all make up an important part of the social context. For elementary kids, Relationships with peers and adults have an effect on how they think, learn, and develop.
Under quarantine, parents would get more involved in their kids’ education since they will be providing supervision.
Beneficiary:
School and social interaction play an important role for elementary kids. If our research could provide a better learning and socializing experience for them, it could contribute to their life-long well-being. Teachers, schools, and parents might also find this research helpful because it provides suggestions on how to keep the kids engaged.
Research plan:
- Surveying kids in our areas
- Contact elementary school teachers and ask them about their experiences teaching/methods to create order in the classroom
2.1 How do they make class engaging and fun?
2.2 What are the surprises/difficulties they encountered?
2.3 How do they get kids to participate whom are usually shy to speak up?
3. Create a journey map to identify pain points/opportunities based on findings
4. Virtual drawing workshop with kids in the neighborhood to gain insight about their inner feelings and attitudes (through observing their use of color/shape etc).
