“This is a Learning Opportunity”: How Parent–Child Interactions and Exhibit Design Foster the Museum Learning of Prior-to-School Aged Children

Young Children's Engagement with Objects in Science Museums: A Rapid Evidence Assessment of Research

“…Parents' unique knowledge about their children is particularly effective in prompting children's interest in museum exhibits as parents often relate objects to children's past experiences (Callanan et al, 2017;Dockett et al, 2011). Shared reminiscing prompts cognitive and language development, enriching children's familiarity with narrative and prompting autobiographical memory (Degotardi et al, 2019). Several studies report how stories, as familiar and enjoyable aspects of children's everyday culture, can be particularly effective in enhancing children's engagement, learning, and recall (Anderson et al, 2002;Hope, 2018), particularly if stories appeal to children's imagination and are 138…”

Using a multidisciplinary, multi-method and collaborative research design to investigate the health communication power of the early childhood sector

“…While academic-stakeholder collaborations do occur in early childhood research (e.g. see Degotardi et al, 2019; Waniganayake et al, 2019) the nature and benefits of such collaborations are less often explicitly documented. In the health discipline, ‘community-engaged’ research has been recognised as an effective avenue for academics and community members to work together to solve real world problems and collectively work towards translational outcomes (Balazs & Morello-Frosch, 2013; Jacquez & Svindin, 2020).…”

Parental Instructional Strategies During Family Visit to An Agricultural Exhibition at A Science Museum

“…Riedinger and Taylor (2019) suggested that parents encourage children's scientific thinking by prompting explanations, modeling how to use evidence and demonstrate how to compare between types of evidence. Other researchers have also observed parents modeling and using inquiry skills to facilitate conversations with their children in science museums (Andre et al, 2017;Degotardi et al, 2019). For instance, Crowley et al (2001) show that in a study of 91 families (children aged 4 to 8 years old) interacting with a zoetrope in a children's museum, parents facilitated their children's scientific thinking by advising their selection of relevant evidence, thus helping them to create evidence and offer explanations.…”

“…Scholars have found that conversations about past experiences help young children organize and structure information in memory (Leichtman et al, 2017). Degotardi et al (2019) found that children's learning deepens when their engagement involves opportunities to connect new information with existing knowledge. Pagano et al (2020) noted that the procedure of "reminiscing" on shared past events is a way of engaging in reflection that is common within families following visits to informal settings such as museums.…”

“…There is vast body of knowledge examining parent-child interactions in museums (Andre et al, 2017;Callanan et al, 2020;Degotardi et al, 2019;Harris & Winterbottom, 2018;McClain & Zimmerman, 2019;Taggart et al, 2020;Vandermaas-Peeler et al, 2016) and due to the fact that parents are among the most influential factors in children's learning, there is always the need to add to this body of knowledge. Informal science environments and exhibit designers who wish to promote science learning for children must carefully consider the role of parents in this learning process.…”