From the first sentence of the abstract: “This paper explores how parents identify and use science and math media to engage their preschool children in informal science and math learning.” Existing research shows that parents believe preschool children do learn math and science concepts from media such as Sesame Street.

This research aims to understand the process from a parent’s point of view. The research was done though 12 semi-structured interviews with parents, using a grounded theory approach. The interview records were coded and the codes linked to thematic groups. By the last interviews, no new insights were being gained. The results show that parents believe media reinforces what a child is learning, but is not effective in introducing new material.

Effective math media seemed easier for parents to find compared to science media. Every parent could recall a television show or an app related to math, but not all parents could recall a science-based show or app. Some parents used videos from YouTube or Facebook to show science phenomena, such as volcanoes or the behavior of a clam. Parents were concerned, however, about the videos that can show up unexpectedly on YouTube.

The paper indicates ways that media designers can better support learning and parental promotion of that learning. It is well organized and clearly written, and certainly of interest to parents, educators, and media designers.