Parent-child conversations about evolution in the context of an interactive museum display

International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education

卷:5

Isabel Checa¹  Andrew Shtulman¹ 

[1] Department of Psychology;

关键词: Conceptual Development;    Evolution Understanding;    Parent-Child Conversation;    Informal Learning Environments;    Science Education;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The theory of evolution by natural selection has revolutionized the biological sciences yet remainsconfusing 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 interactivecladogram, 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 thephylogenetic relations among the 19 orders of mammals. Across activities, participants revealedsimilar misconceptions to those revealed by college undergraduates in previous studies. However, thefrequency of those misconceptions was attenuated by the level of parental engagement, particularlythe frequency of turn-taking between parents and children. Overall, these findings suggest thatevolutionary reasoning may be improved by the kinds of collaborative discussions fostered byinteractive museum displays, so long as the affordances of those displays encourage multi-userinteractions.

【 授权许可】

Unknown