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ABSTRACT
Significant research has focused on caregiver-child interaction in children’s museums, but little is known about what caregivers might be observing or perceiving about their children’s learning. This study was conducted by the Children’s Museums Research Network, and examines what caregivers observe about their children’s learning during a visit to the children’s museum. Data were collected through online questionnaires (N = 223) and follow-up phone interviews (N = 20) with caregivers recruited from eight children’s museums across the U.S. Results show that caregivers could identify numerous things they discovered about their child(ren) in the museum, including their interests, social skills, thinking/problem-solving skills, and emotional regulation. What contributed most to these discoveries was opportunities to watch their children play and interact with others, and to play with unique materials and activities that they don’t have access to at home. Signage and floor staff were seen as minimally important. These findings have implications for exhibit design and staff facilitation in children’s museums.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest is reported by the authors.
About the authors
Jessica J. Luke, Ph.D., is the Director of the Museology Graduate Program at the University of Washington, Seattle, WA. Her research and teaching focus on how and what children and families learn in museums.
Eileen D. Tomczuk is the Education Coordinator at the Louisiana State Museum in New Orleans. She has an M.A. in Museology from the University of Washington in Seattle. She is interested in how museum content related to social justice issues affects visitors’ attitudes and behaviors.
Susan Foutz, MA, is the Director of Research and Evaluation at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis where she leads the study design and implementation of the museum’s evaluations for exhibitions and programs.
Nicole Rivera, Ed.D., is an Associate Professor of Psychology at North Central College in Naperville, IL. She also serves as the Academic Research and Evaluation partner with the DuPage Children’s Museum.
Lisa Brahms is Director of Learning and Research at The Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh and visiting scholar with the University of Pittsburgh Center for Learning in Out of School Environments. Lisa holds a Ph.D. in Learning Sciences and Policy from the University of Pittsburgh and earned her Master’s in Museum Education and Elementary Education from Bank Street College of Education.
Kari Ross Nelson, MA MS, is the Research and Evaluation Associate at Thanksgiving Point Institute in Lehi, Utah. Her work focuses on museum exhibitions and informal learning environments.
Barbara Hahn is VP of Growth & Innovation at Minnesota Children’s Museum, where she led the exhibit design team for the museum’s recent renovation and expansion project. She currently oversees Family Learning and new business initiatives.
Melissa Swank is the evaluation consultant for The Magic House, St. Louis Children’s Museum. In this capacity, she leads the evaluation efforts for the Museum. Prior to this role, Melissa conducted public health evaluation and cancer research. Melissa holds a Master of Public Health from Boston University and a Bachelor in Science from Davidson College.
Kimberly McKenney is the Planning and Evaluation Director at the Children's Museum of Tacoma, in Washington State. She draws on exhibit and program design experience to yield meaningful evaluation of the Museum's audience, exhibits, and programs.
Notes
1 Cox, Evidence-based Interventions, 491; Christensen and Sheridan, Schools and Families; Fishel and Ramirez, “Evidence-based Parent Involvement Interventions,” 396; Henderson and Mapp, New Wave of Evidence, 24.
2 Crowley et al., “Shared Scientific Thinking,” 728; Puchner, Rapoport and Gaskins, “Learning in Children’s Museums,” 255.
3 Benjamin, Haden and Wilkerson, “Enhancing Building, Conversation and Learning,” 513.
4 Crowley et al., “Shared Scientific Thinking,” 729.
5 Jant et al., “Conversation and Object Manipulation,” 2039; Marcus, Haden and Uttal, “STEM Learning and Transfer,” 173.
6 Downey, Krantz and Skidmore, “The Parental Role in Children’s Museums,” 27; Shine and Acosta, “Parent-child Social Play,” 51.
7 Beaumont, “Developing the Adult Child Interaction Inventory,” 48; Knutson et al., “Approaching Art Education as Ecology,” 314.
8 Swartz and Crowley, “Parent Beliefs about Teaching,” 12.
9 Benjamin, Haden and Wilkerson, “Enhancing Building, Conversation and Learning,” 512; Haden et al., “Supporting Family Conversations,” 341.
10 Polinksy et al., “Encouraging Spatial Talk,” 149.
11 Wood and Wolf, “When Parents Stand Back,” 37.
12 Letourneau et al., “What Do Caregivers Notice?” 92.
13 Song et al., “Parents’ and Experts’ Awareness,” 41.
14 Luke and Garvin, What Do We Need?
15 Luke et al., “Play in Children’s Museums”; Rivera and Thoma Emmons, “How Learning Frameworks Reflect.”
16 Letourneau and Rivera, “Research Network Update.”
17 Benjamin, Haden and Wilkerson, “Enhancing Building, Conversation and Learning,” 513; Haden et al., “Supporting Family Conversations,” 341; Polinksy et al., “Encouraging Spatial Talk,” 149.
18 See note 12 above.
19 Zimmerman, Perin and Bell, “Parents, Science and Interest,” 83.
20 White, The Power of Play, 20.
21 Puchner, Rapoport and Gaskins, “Learning in Children’s Museums,” 254; White, The Power of Play, 12.
22 See note 11 above.