Free‐choice worksheets increase students' exposure to curriculum during museum visits

Abstract

The museum visit is an important part of elementary school science teaching. However, a divide exists between teachers, who require curricular accountability, and museums, who emphasize free‐choice exploration. Can a carefully constructed worksheet bridge this divide by providing free‐choice exploration of curricular topics during the museum visit? In the present study, a theoretical framework was constructed to inform the design of worksheets as free‐choice learning devices. This framework was used to analyze the design of an existing museum worksheet. Subsequently, curriculum‐related conversations among school groups visiting a museum were monitored in groups supplied with the worksheet and in control groups without. Overall, the worksheet complied well with design criteria synthesized from the free‐choice learning literature. Furthermore, the use of the worksheet increased the number and diversity of curriculum‐related conversations among school groups during the visit. This study documents that the use of carefully designed worksheets may increase students' exposure to curriculum during a museum visit, and thus may help build better bridges between teacher needs and museum free‐choice identities. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 44: 1389–1414, 2007

Upper Secondary Students’ Situational Interest: A case study of the role of a zoo visit in a biology class

“…During a field trip, active participation in structured museum activities (hands-on activities, inquiry-based problem solving, discussion with peers, etc.) promotes student motivation (S. Hidi, Weiss, Berndorff, & Nolan, 1998;Paris, Yambor, & Packard, 1998) and learning (Cox-Petersen, Marsh, Kisiel, & Melber, 2003;Mortensen & Smart, 2007;Tofield, et al, 2003). Educational impact is increased by post-visit activities (D. Anderson, et al, 2000;Davidson, et al, 2010;Griffin, 1994).…”

Equity in informal science education: developing an access and equity framework for science museums and science centres

“…The study found a worksheet designed to help 8-11-year-old students on school trips to a museum supported students developing links between the museum and school science content (Mortensen & Smart, 2007). Finally, in China, exploratory research at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum suggests that the History, Philosophy and Sociology of Science approach they have developed to frame science in their science education programme helps students (across age groups) connect museum and school science (Song & Zhao, 2012).…”

“…Further evidence about how students learn in ISLEs can be gleaned from a design-based research study carried out in the USA (Mortensen & Smart, 2007). The study found a worksheet designed to help 8-11-year-old students on school trips to a museum supported students developing links between the museum and school science content (Mortensen & Smart, 2007).…”

Framing a topic: Mobile video tasks in museum learning

“…Findings from the field trip literature tell us that choice is essential for engaging students' interest and motivation (Bamberger & Tal, 2007), and that students learn best when guided by a clear agenda and scaffolding that supports knowledge integration across contexts and over time (Falk, Moussouri, & Coulson, 1998;Steier & Pierroux, 2011). Paper-based worksheets are one 'mobile' means of orienting students to a disciplinary domain in a museum setting, and this widely used approach has been shown to produce modest learning effects (Mortensen & Smart, 2007). Worksheets are shown to be most effective when the tasks provide a moderate amount of structure, intermediate levels of support (Bamberger & Tal, 2007), and are combined with opportunities for students to freely explore an exhibition (DeWitt & Storksdieck, 2008).…”