Tõugu Pirko
Institute of Psychology, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.
Front Psychol. 2021 Apr 7;12:629657. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.629657. eCollection 2021.
Children's learning often happens in the interactions with more knowledgeable members of the society, frequently parents, as stated by the sociocultural theory. Parent-child conversations provide children with a new understanding and foster knowledge development, especially in informal learning contexts. However, the family conversations in museums and science centers can be contingent on the motivation for the family visit or the activities organized on the spot. In order to establish how family motivation and on-the-spot activities influence children's informal learning experience, the present study was carried out in a family science center. The study focused on children's learning experience in a hands-on exhibit featuring objects that allow for the exploration of the concepts of sound waves and light. Thirty-nine 7-10-year-old children (21 boys and 18 girls) and their families participated in the study. Twenty families received a worksheet to prompt an experimentation activity with one of the light exhibits. Motivation for the family visit was probed at the end of the visit. The target children of the families wore a GoPro HERO 5 camera attached to a chest harness throughout their visit. The video was coded for family interaction and experimentation with the light exhibit. Family conversations were coded for open-ended questions, responses to open-ended questions, explanations, associations, attention directing, and reading signage aloud. Family motivation for the visit was related to the quality of family conversation during the visit. The experimentation activity prompt did not affect the likelihood of noticing and engaging with the particular exhibit. At the same time, it did affect the quality of engagement: children who received the experimentation activity prompt were more likely to explore the effects the exhibit provided and experiment rather than play with the exhibit. Family motivation and on-the-spot activities are discussed as two possible factors to influence children's learning experience in science centers.
社会文化理论指出，儿童的学习通常发生在与社会中知识更丰富的成员（通常是父母）的互动中。亲子对话为儿童提供了新的理解，并促进知识发展，尤其是在非正式学习环境中。然而，在博物馆和科学中心的家庭对话可能取决于家庭参观的动机或现场组织的活动。为了确定家庭动机和现场活动如何影响儿童的非正式学习体验，本研究在一家家庭科学中心进行。该研究聚焦于儿童在一个亲身体验展览中的学习体验，该展览展示了一些能够让人们探索声波和光概念的物品。39名7至10岁的儿童（21名男孩和18名女孩）及其家庭参与了这项研究。20个家庭收到了一份工作表，以促使他们对其中一个灯光展品进行实验活动。在参观结束时调查了家庭参观的动机。这些家庭的目标儿童在整个参观过程中都佩戴了一台安装在胸带上的GoPro HERO 5相机。对视频进行编码，以分析家庭互动以及对灯光展品的实验情况。对家庭对话进行编码，包括开放式问题、对开放式问题的回答、解释、联想、注意力引导以及大声朗读展品说明牌。家庭参观的动机与参观期间家庭对话的质量相关。实验活动提示并没有影响注意到并参与特定展品的可能性。与此同时，它确实影响了参与的质量：收到实验活动提示的儿童更有可能探索展品所呈现的效果并进行实验，而不是仅仅把玩展品。本文讨论了家庭动机和现场活动这两个可能影响儿童在科学中心学习体验的因素。
