SOUTH KINGSTOWN – PBS Kids is enlisting a professor at the University of Rhode Island for one of its TV shows.
Sara Sweetman, associate professor of education at URI, is teaming up with the creators of “Elinor Wonders Why” to help break down barriers that girls face in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields. Sweetman previously has served as a consultant on numerous PBS Kids shows
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Thanks to a $3.4 million grant from the National Science Foundation, Sweetman will work with creators Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson to develop eight 11-minute episodes of the animated show with the goal of improving boys’ and girls’ perceptions of female scientists and increasing their understanding of mixed-gender collaborations in STEM.
The grant will also fund the development of a computerized assessment tool by URI researchers to measure the perceptions of youngsters about the roles of scientists and how those perceptions evolve after they watch episodes of the TV show. The project is scheduled to last four years.
“I really want to shift the thinking about the gender equity role in terms of what we can do to build better collaboration between boys and girls starting at a young age,” Sweetman said. “In the past, efforts have focused on getting women excited about STEM and providing opportunities for them to excel. I think doing those is great. But if we really want to have a gender diverse field in sciences, we need to work with both men and women.”
To support the story scenarios, Sweetman and a team of URI graduate and undergraduate students will research such topics as how boys view women scientists, the university said. Researchers will work with students from URI’s 13 Guiding Education in Math and Science Network partner school districts in the state to better understand the role gender plays in their perception of scientists by having students draw a scientist of a gender other than the one they identify with.
Sweetman has served as the show’s science and STEM education expert, ensuring that the content follows best practices and is accessible to children in the show’s age range, Cham said. “The show is all about encouraging kids to be more curious and to empower them to ask questions and find their own answers,” he said. “And Sara has been a great guide and leader in helping achieve this goal.”
The project will include researchers from the URI computer science department, which will develop an assessment tool with artificial intelligence-assisted data collection and analysis to measure students’ perceptions. URI computer science professor Abdeltawab Hendawi will lead the team in creating an interactive game that uses an avatar creator so children can create their own scientist while showing what they understand about the role of scientists.
“We are very excited to be working with Sara and her team on this project,” said Cham, who, with Whiteson, is a co-founder of Shoe Ink, which produces the show. “Sara has been a part of the show from the beginning and has been instrumental in shaping its approach to STEM education. The issues addressed by this research project are extremely important, and we jumped at the chance to be a part of finding solutions and strategies to help science be more inclusive and fair.”
Previously, Sweetman has been a consultant on PBS Kids shows such as “The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That.” She also advises on the educational content for about a half dozen shows, including “Sesame Street.”
“The biggest takeaway at my table was the overall sense that we have been going about this idea of equity and gender in the sciences wrong,” said Sweetman. “What the film really brought out was this idea that women aren’t supported by their male colleagues in STEM.”
