The Role of Educational Media in the Development of STEM Interests in Early Childhood

Children's early interests play an important role in shaping later academic choices and career pathways, yet little is known about how interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) develops during the preschool years. Digital media is one of the most common informal learning environments experienced by young children and may provide opportunities to spark their engagement with STEM topics long before formal schooling begins. Accordingly, this project investigates whether viewing educational videos on Netflix and YouTube contributes to the development of STEM interests among children ages two to five. By examining how everyday media experiences relate to children's emerging interests, this project will advance understanding of how informal learning environments support early engagement with STEM. Furthermore, we examine how parents' behaviors around their children's media use may support interest development. The findings will inform families, educators, and producers seeking to expand access to high-quality STEM learning opportunities and strengthen pathways into the future STEM workforce. This project also supports research training for undergraduate students and disseminates findings through community and stakeholder partnerships. This project examines how exposure to STEM-related videos influences the development of both short-term and long-term STEM interests during early childhood. Guided by a model of interest development, the research addresses three questions: (1) whether viewing STEM videos predicts changes in children's STEM interests over time, (2) whether children's existing interests shape subsequent selection of STEM videos, and (3) whether supportive parental practices around children's media use strengthens these relationships. The researchers will follow families with children ages two to five over one year using a measurement-burst design, which combines five waves of panel surveys, daily diary assessments, and objective records of children's viewing histories from Netflix and YouTube. These data will be used to characterize the content of children's viewing and examine longitudinal associations between their media use and STEM interest development. Project outcomes include new evidence regarding the role of media in early STEM interest development, validated methods for assessing children's digital media environments, curated datasets that support future research, and practical recommendations for families and organizations that create educational content for young children. This project was funded by the STEM K-12 program, which supports fundamental, applied, and translational research on STEM learning in both formal K-12 education and informal learning environments. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.