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 the public – visitors to a natural history museum – reason about evolution in the context of an in...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Kura Publishing
2012-11-01
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| Series: | International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://iejee.com/index.php/IEJEE/article/view/8/5 |
| _version_ | 1797909017900613632 |
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| author | Andrew Shtulman Isabel Checa |
| author_facet | Andrew Shtulman Isabel Checa |
| author_sort | Andrew Shtulman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| 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 the
public – 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 one
accompanying 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, particularly
the 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. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T11:02:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4093316a121344c8b4858aea2cb129a8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1307-9298 1307-9298 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T11:02:01Z |
| publishDate | 2012-11-01 |
| publisher | Kura Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-4093316a121344c8b4858aea2cb129a82023-02-15T16:19:37ZengKura PublishingInternational Electronic Journal of Elementary Education1307-92981307-92982012-11-01512746Parent-child conversations about evolution in the context of an interactive museum displayAndrew Shtulman0Isabel Checa1Department of PsychologyDepartment of PsychologyThe 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 the public – 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 one accompanying 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, particularly the 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.https://iejee.com/index.php/IEJEE/article/view/8/5Conceptual DevelopmentEvolution UnderstandingParent-Child ConversationInformal Learning EnvironmentsScience Education |
| spellingShingle | Andrew Shtulman Isabel Checa 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 |
| title | 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_short | 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 |
| topic | Conceptual Development Evolution Understanding Parent-Child Conversation Informal Learning Environments Science Education |
| url | https://iejee.com/index.php/IEJEE/article/view/8/5 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT andrewshtulman parentchildconversationsaboutevolutioninthecontextofaninteractivemuseumdisplay AT isabelcheca parentchildconversationsaboutevolutioninthecontextofaninteractivemuseumdisplay |