Parent-child conversations about evolution in the context of an interactive museum display
The theory of evolution by natural selection has revolutionized the biological sciences yet remains confusing and controversial to the public at large. This study explored how a particular segment of thepublic – visitors to a natural history museum – reason about evolution in the context of an inter...
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Online Access: | http://www.iejee.com/5_1_2012/IEJEE_5_1_27_46.pdf |
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doaj-406ed8bd7f3f42fc852e2a3e9997477d2020-11-25T03:48:12ZengKura PublishingInternational Electronic Journal of Elementary Education1307-92982012-10-01512746Parent-child conversations about evolution in the context of an interactive museum displayIsabel CHECAAndrew SHTULMANThe theory of evolution by natural selection has revolutionized the biological sciences yet remains confusing and controversial to the public at large. This study explored how a particular segment of thepublic – visitors to a natural history museum – reason about evolution in the context of an interactive cladogram, or evolutionary tree. The participants were 49 children aged four to twelve and oneaccompanying parent. Together, they completed five activities using a touch-screen display of the phylogenetic relations among the 19 orders of mammals. Across activities, participants revealed similar misconceptions to those revealed by college undergraduates in previous studies. However, the frequency of those misconceptions was attenuated by the level of parental engagement, particularlythe frequency of turn-taking between parents and children. Overall, these findings suggest that evolutionary reasoning may be improved by the kinds of collaborative discussions fostered by interactive museum displays, so long as the affordances of those displays encourage multi-user interactions.http://www.iejee.com/5_1_2012/IEJEE_5_1_27_46.pdfConceptual DevelopmentEvolution UnderstandingParent-Child ConversationInformal Learning EnvironmentsScience Education. |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Isabel CHECA Andrew SHTULMAN |
spellingShingle |
Isabel CHECA Andrew SHTULMAN Parent-child conversations about evolution in the context of an interactive museum display International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education Conceptual Development Evolution Understanding Parent-Child Conversation Informal Learning Environments Science Education. |
author_facet |
Isabel CHECA Andrew SHTULMAN |
author_sort |
Isabel CHECA |
title |
Parent-child conversations about evolution in the context of an interactive museum display |
title_short |
Parent-child conversations about evolution in the context of an interactive museum display |
title_full |
Parent-child conversations about evolution in the context of an interactive museum display |
title_fullStr |
Parent-child conversations about evolution in the context of an interactive museum display |
title_full_unstemmed |
Parent-child conversations about evolution in the context of an interactive museum display |
title_sort |
parent-child conversations about evolution in the context of an interactive museum display |
publisher |
Kura Publishing |
series |
International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education |
issn |
1307-9298 |
publishDate |
2012-10-01 |
description |
The theory of evolution by natural selection has revolutionized the biological sciences yet remains confusing and controversial to the public at large. This study explored how a particular segment of thepublic – visitors to a natural history museum – reason about evolution in the context of an interactive cladogram, or evolutionary tree. The participants were 49 children aged four to twelve and oneaccompanying parent. Together, they completed five activities using a touch-screen display of the phylogenetic relations among the 19 orders of mammals. Across activities, participants revealed similar misconceptions to those revealed by college undergraduates in previous studies. However, the frequency of those misconceptions was attenuated by the level of parental engagement, particularlythe frequency of turn-taking between parents and children. Overall, these findings suggest that evolutionary reasoning may be improved by the kinds of collaborative discussions fostered by interactive museum displays, so long as the affordances of those displays encourage multi-user interactions. |
topic |
Conceptual Development Evolution Understanding Parent-Child Conversation Informal Learning Environments Science Education. |
url |
http://www.iejee.com/5_1_2012/IEJEE_5_1_27_46.pdf |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT isabelcheca parentchildconversationsaboutevolutioninthecontextofaninteractivemuseumdisplay AT andrewshtulman parentchildconversationsaboutevolutioninthecontextofaninteractivemuseumdisplay |
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