Enthusiastic Museum Educators and Interested Visitors: Supporting Visitors' Situational Interest in Informal Learning Environments

• In Event: Poster Session 18
  In Poster Session: Informal Learning Environments Research Poster Session

Abstract

Supporting visitors’ interest is a shared mission for museums. Much research had focused on contextual factors such as settings and programs, yet little is known about how museum educators, the persons interact with visitors on museum floors, contribute to visitors’ interest. This study investigated how museum educators, specifically their enthusiasm, is related to visitors’ situational interest. The results indicated that visitors’ perceived enthusiasm in museum educators significantly predicted their situational interest in both catch and hold stages. The data also showed that visitors’ prior individual interest moderated the relationship between perceived enthusiasm and situational interest. Future studies in museum education need to take museum educators’ impact into consideration to better understand potential of informal education.

Author

• ChangChia James Liu, New York Hall of Science