Parents struggle with science and technology
With pupils still settling in to the new school year, recent research released by E.ON highlights that science remains a subject that leaves many parents stumped when it comes to helping with homework.
Polling Exeter parents of children aged five to sixteen years, E.ON found that three quarters (75%) of parents feel Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects are important or very important to their children’s development, indicating widespread awareness of the need to help the younger generation feel engaged and comfortable with Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths subjects.
However, surveyed parents in Exeter say they feel unprepared to help with a lot of the questions that come their way. More than half of parents here are more likely to feel out of their depth or completely helpless (59%) than confident (19%) in their ability to help with homework.
The research shows that many of the Exeter parents asked have a good grasp of numbers but highlights that science still poses an issue. When asked how they felt when helping their children with different school subjects, more parents in Exeter reported feeling confident about helping with Maths (51%), than Biology (36%), Physics (31%) or Chemistry (25%).
To help, E.ON has launched a new set of online resources on its ‘Energise Anything!’ hub, aimed at supporting children aged between five and fourteen years. The resources are available to teachers and parents to facilitate pupils’ learning in the STEM space.
Across Exeter, one in four surveyed parents (25%) are spending two to three hours a week helping their kids with homework but 36% say understanding the questions or subjects is a key barrier preventing them from giving their best guidance. However, more than half (53%) of parents see homework as an opportunity to spend time with their children by finding the right answer together online and broadening both their understanding.
And six in ten (60%) parents in Exeter avoid the homework task altogether by either choosing to get their partner to help instead (31%) or by encouraging their children to ask their teacher (29%).
Others go to greater lengths with nearly one in five parents (19%) saying they would rather do the grocery shop than help with homework and 14% would prefer to do the laundry instead.
Suzanne Doxey, Community Relations Manager at E.ON, said: “STEM subjects form the basis for a surprising number of different career paths, so it’s vital that we encourage our children to feel confident and engaged with these topics from a young age. Helping kids to feel confident now will help them to feel more positive about Maths and Science in the future.
“We know that parents want their children to understand and feel comfortable with STEM subjects – and that they value the opportunity to learn new things together as part of helping with homework. Our online educational programmes have been supporting children’s learning for many years now, and our new set of resources is designed to help parents and children discover more about STEM. Overall we want to make learning as engaging as possible, but also fun and memorable at the same time.”
Kate Bellingham, Engineer and Broadcaster, said: “Confidence plays a vital role in helping our children get to grips with STEM subjects, so it’s important to give them a good grounding at a young age.
“E.ON’s new resources aim to encourage parents and children to learn together and, as a mother, I believe it’s really valuable to show an interest in your child's studies and, even better, do science investigations together at home. For those less confident about doing this, these E.ON resources provide engaging examples which are relevant to the curriculum and have lots of backup information to help fill any knowledge gaps for the adult. It’s an excellent concept.”
E.ON’s learning resources are available for free to teachers and parents to help inspire the next generation. Learn more by visiting the business’s ‘Energise Anything!’ hub: eonenergy.com/energiseanything
