Parental Pre-knowledge Enhances Guidance During Inquiry-Based Family Learning in a Museum Context: An Individual Differences Perspective

Abstract

Effective interaction and inquiry are an essential source for children's learning about science in an informal context. This study investigated the effect of parental preknowledge on parent-child interactions (manipulations, parent talk, and child talk) during an inquiry activity in NEMO Science Museum in Amsterdam. The sample included 105 parent-child dyads (mean children's age = 10.0 years). Half of the couples were randomly assigned to the experimental group in which, without the child's knowledge, the parent was shown the task's solution prior to the inquiry activity. Results show that parental pre-knowledge affected the way parents interacted and inquired with their child. Compared to parents without pre-knowledge, parents with pre-knowledge inquired longer, posed more open-ended wh-questions and closed questions, and less often interpreted results. Children of parents with pre-knowledge more often described evidence and interpreted results, more often manipulated alone, and solved the task more accurately. These results indicate that parental pre-knowledge brings about parents' scaffolding behavior. In addition, it was studied how individual differences of parents and children relate to parent-child interaction. Results show that children's self-reported inquiry attitude was related to their conversation during inquiry, such that they asked fewer closed questions and more open-ended questions. Children's gender affected the cooperation between parent and child, parents more often manipulated together with boys than with girls, and girls more often manipulated alone. Fathers with pre-knowledge, but not mothers, let their child manipulate more by oneself than fathers without pre-knowledge. This study shows that more knowledge about an exhibit improves a parent's scaffolding behavior in a science museum. Results are discussed in the context of museum practice.

Science competencies in kindergarten: a prospective study in the last year of kindergarten

“…It is reasonable to assume that the association is stronger in children who frequently engage in science activities with their peers, caretakers, or educators. Recent studies show that the quality of these interactions determines the scientific-thinking processes of young children (Sobel et al 2020), with adults' prior science knowledge being an important determinant of how children act in situations of inquiry (Franse et al 2020). Because children acquire novel science content knowledge first and foremost in situations that are structured by parents or teachers, the teaching of science content knowledge is an important aspect of K-12 teacher education.…”

Motivation for the Family Visit and On-the-Spot Activities Shape Children’s Learning Experience in a Science Center

“…Whether this is possible, should be addressed in larger visitor motivation studies. Other factors, such as parental prior knowledge ( Franse et al, 2020 ) and parents’ ideas about if and how children should gain knowledge from such visits ( Gaskins, 2008 ) could guide their activities and conversations with their children. These aspects should be studied alongside motivation for the visit in the future.…”

The complex associations between children’s scientific reasoning and advanced theory of mind

“…Likewise, it may well be that parents' "sciencemindedness" can impact how they interact with their children when jointly exploring scientific phenomena. Parents' prior knowledge (Franse et al, 2020) and epistemological beliefs (Suárez & Koenig, 2021), the engagement in transactive dialogues (Azmitia & Montgomery, 1993), and collaborative parent-child interactions (Callanan et al, 2020) significantly influence children's scientific reasoning, and so future research should explore whether these variables explain the association between caregivers' education level and children's scientific reasoning.…”