Understanding Parent and Educator’s Roles in Children’s Learning and Engagement in Informal STEM Learning Sites

• In Event: Poster Session 06
  In Poster Session: PS 06 Topic - Education, Schooling

Abstract

Introduction: Previous research has shown the importance of educators in informal learning sites (Mulvey et al., 2020; Shaby, Ben-Zvi Assaraf, & Tal, 2019), however not much is known about the types of interactions that children visitors and their parents have with youth or adult educators in informal STEM learning sites. The present study aimed to understand the nature of family interaction in informal STEM learning sites when families encounter just the exhibit or when they interact with a youth educator or an adult educator in these settings.
Method: Video and audio recordings of family visits to a zoo, children’s museum, or aquarium in the United States were coded for learning and engagement. Participants included 63 children (60.3% female) and 44 parents in 31 family groups. Children either explored an exhibit with their family only, i.e. parents (no educator), or interacted with either a youth or an adult educator at the pre-selected exhibit. All videos were coded by two coders (interrater agreement = 82.5%) using a coding system derived from Callanan, Castañeda, Luce, and Martin (2017) and Barriault and Pearson (2010). Our analyses focused on children’s cognitive engagement and learning as well as the different ways educators and parents engage children in informal STEM learning sites.
Results: Overall children and parents were more engaged at the exhibit and had more positive reactions when they interacted with a youth educator than an adult educator or just the exhibit itself (see Table 1). Children and parents also used more science related requests about the exhibit when a youth educator was present. Furthermore, youth educators gave more science explanations than adult educators. However, when an educator was not present, parents provided more science explanations and children were seeking and sharing more information.
Discussion: The results provide evidence for the importance of parents and educators, especially youth educators, for children’s learning in informal STEM learning sites. The results also document that parents and educators interact with children in different ways and that both may provide important opportunities for children’s cognitive development in informal STEM learning sites.

Authors

• Angelina Joy, Purdue University, West Lafayette
  Presenting Author

• Fidelia Law, University Of Exeter
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kelly Lynn S Mulvey, North Carolina State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Adam Rutland, University Of Exeter
  Non-Presenting Author

• Adam Hartstone-Rose, North Carolina State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Luke McGuire, University Of Exeter
  Non-Presenting Author

• Karen Burns, Virginia Aquarium
  Non-Presenting Author

• Marc Drews, EdVenture Children’s Museum
  Non-Presenting Author

• Grace Fields, Riverbanks Zoo
  Non-Presenting Author

• Mark Winterbottom, University of Cambridge
  Non-Presenting Author