During the 1960s and 1970s a number of family learning projects evolved, most of which focused on pre-schoolers and their parents. The goal of some of these programs was to provide enjoyable, structured experiences in which parents and their children learned together. Recently, a number of institutions have been sponsoring enrichment science classes or learning experiences for parents and older children. The study described here is based on a project funded by the National Science Foundation (DISE No. 07872) which was attempting to show that it was possible to increase scientific literacy of two different age groups by simultaneously exposing parents and their middle school children to short courses in science. The project is an outgrowth of a study previously r e p o d (Gennaro, Bullock, Br Alden, 1980) carried out at the Minnesota Zoological Gardens. The study is based on data obtained during the first two years of the project and used various data gathering pmedure.~ such as the use of questionnaires, interviews, observations, and cognitive testing. It was found that children register for the courses primarily because of interest in the subject matter of the courses and that parents register because of their desire to n u t u x the child and the child's interest in the subject matter of the course. Both parents and children made significant gains in learning as measured by subject matter tests. Participants reported that the experience was both enjoyable and valuable. Children's attitudes toward their parents and the course were sigpificantly higher if the children perceived a highly cooperative learning environment with their parents. Parents who scored in the medium or high range on the pretest had significantly more interactions with their children concerning information about course tasks than those who scored low on the pretest.

It is well documented that students' exposure to science in the middle school is critical for their later selection of science courses, yet instruction time and course offerings in science during the middle school years are often limited. Out‐of‐School Science Experiences with funds from the National Science Foundation (DISE No. 07872) produced five short science courses intended for children in middle school grades (6, 7, and 8) and their parents that supplement normal science instruction based on topics that are integral to traditional science teaching. The courses were offered through Community Education programs and through informal science learning centers (e.g., zoos, museums, and planetariums). An added strength of the program is that it employs the family as a motivator and reinforcer in a cooperative learning venture. The study reported here is an attempt to determine participant reaction two to three years after having taken the courses, to the course experience, the influence that the courses had on subsequent learning behavior, and the relationship between parents and children.

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