Parental Instructional Strategies During Family Visit to An Agricultural Exhibition at A Science Museum

Neta Shaby; Orit Ben-Zvi Assaraf; Noy Levy

doi:10.21601/ijese/11663

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Neta Shaby ¹ ^* , Orit Ben-Zvi Assaraf ² , Noy Levy ²

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¹ Southampton Education School, University of Southampton, UK² Program of Science and Technology Education, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, ISRAEL^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

The aim of this qualitative study was to examine how parents use exhibits’ features during a family visit to a science museum. We observed 44 families during 9 hours and 45 minutes at the “Fields of Tomorrow” exhibition hall. The analysis showed that parents used the physical environment as a resource to engage children with science, taking on the role of “experts” and instructing the novice children. The analysis revealed that parents mainly used four instructional strategies while engaging with the exhibits: 1) connection to everyday life; 2) observation; 3) asking questions; and 4) reading, interpreting, and naming. We also found that parents took advantage of the signs near the exhibits to facilitate their instruction, and their scientific interpretations rarely related to the exhibit’s goals. This study highlights the need for better mediational means at science museums to support visitor engagement.

Keywords

science museum
parental instructional strategies
interaction analysis

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

INTERDISCIP J ENV SCI ED, Volume 18, Issue 2, 2022, Article No: e2268

https://doi.org/10.21601/ijese/11663

Publication date: 02 Feb 2022

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Article Downloads: 1026

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How to cite this article

APA

Shaby, N., Ben-Zvi Assaraf, O., & Levy, N. (2022). Parental Instructional Strategies During Family Visit to An Agricultural Exhibition at A Science Museum. Interdisciplinary Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 18(2), e2268. https://doi.org/10.21601/ijese/11663

Vancouver

Shaby N, Ben-Zvi Assaraf O, Levy N. Parental Instructional Strategies During Family Visit to An Agricultural Exhibition at A Science Museum. INTERDISCIP J ENV SCI ED. 2022;18(2):e2268. https://doi.org/10.21601/ijese/11663

AMA

Shaby N, Ben-Zvi Assaraf O, Levy N. Parental Instructional Strategies During Family Visit to An Agricultural Exhibition at A Science Museum. INTERDISCIP J ENV SCI ED. 2022;18(2), e2268. https://doi.org/10.21601/ijese/11663

Chicago

Shaby, Neta, Orit Ben-Zvi Assaraf, and Noy Levy. "Parental Instructional Strategies During Family Visit to An Agricultural Exhibition at A Science Museum". Interdisciplinary Journal of Environmental and Science Education 2022 18 no. 2 (2022): e2268. https://doi.org/10.21601/ijese/11663

Harvard

Shaby, N., Ben-Zvi Assaraf, O., and Levy, N. (2022). Parental Instructional Strategies During Family Visit to An Agricultural Exhibition at A Science Museum. Interdisciplinary Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 18(2), e2268. https://doi.org/10.21601/ijese/11663

MLA

Shaby, Neta et al. "Parental Instructional Strategies During Family Visit to An Agricultural Exhibition at A Science Museum". Interdisciplinary Journal of Environmental and Science Education, vol. 18, no. 2, 2022, e2268. https://doi.org/10.21601/ijese/11663