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Young children's learning in museum settings

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 YOUNG CHILDREN’S LEARNING IN

MUSEUM SETTINGS

by Barbara Piscitelli & David Anderson

Centre for Applied Studies in Early Childhood

Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia

Background museum experience of very young children, and hence

In the 1980s, museum and visitor research studies were there is currently limited understanding of children’s per­
regarded as being in their infancy (Feher, 1990). The in­ spectives of these settings. Second, investigating and col­
tervening years have seen considerable growth and devel­ lecting data from young children pertaining to their learn­
opment in this field of research, although it can be re­ ing and museum experiences is difficult by virtue of their
garded as having been in a formative stage throughout the limited ability to communicate, difficulty in self-reflect­
past two decades. By the middle of the 1990s, there was ing on their past experiences, and reliability issues asso­
widespread acceptance among researchers of the cogni­ ciated with data collection from adult investigators (Hatch,
tive, affective and social aspects of the learning experi­ 1990; Piscitelli, et al., 1999). Third, positive experiences
ences of visitors in museums and similar institutions of museums appear to be an important factor in future
(Raphling & Serrell, 1993; Rennie & McClafferty, 1996; visitation to such settings (Andrews & Asia, 1979; Kindler
Rennie, 1994; Roberts, 1992), and Falk & Dierking (1992) & Darras, 1997).
had drawn attention to the physical, social and personal It was also evident, from our relationship with the
contexts in which learning occurs. museum community in Queensland, Australia, that there
The highly stimulating, novel and in­ have been fluctuations in the number
teractive physical and social environ­ of young visitors over the past several
ments of museums have been linked years as well as a decline in school
“… there is a need for a visitors. Furthermore, there are no
to ineffective learning outcomes by
visiting school students in some stud­ thorough investigation of known studies and few policy docu­
ies (Anderson & Lucas, 1997; Kubota children’s experiences and ments on the position of young chil­
& Olstad 1991). Others studies of the dren in museum culture, despite the
1990s period have demonstrated that perceptions of their museum fact that children are enthusiastic mu­
students enjoy visits to museums tre­ encounters.” seum visitors. Given these general con­
mendously and that increased interest clusions, it would appear that there is
and enjoyment of post-visit activities a need for a thorough investigation of
constitute extremely valuable learning children’s experiences and perceptions
outcomes (Anderson, 1998, 1999; Ayres & Lelear, 1998; of their museum encounters. Such research would inform
Ramey-Gassert at al., 1994), that persist over time (Ander­ museum communities about the experiential aspects which
son, 1999; Rennie, 1994; Wolins, Jensen & Ulzheimer, children find most rewarding, and assist in the develop­
1992). mental aspects of exhibitions and programs which have
With a few notable exceptions (Andrews & Asia, 1979; educational and experiential impact for young visitors.
Borun, Chambers & Cleghorn, 1996; Kindler & Darras,
1997; McClafferty, 2000; McClafferty & Rennie, 1997; The QUT Museums Collaborative
Piscitelli, McArdle, & Weier, 1999; Wolins et al., 1992) In 1997, museum educators and administrators joined
there is an absence in the literature of studies which ex­ university researchers to form a collaborative team to ex­
amine very young children’s perspectives and museum amine the experiences of young children visiting muse­
experiences. This is somewhat surprising given that young ums. The team comprised staff from Queensland Univer­
children constitute a significant part of museum visitorship sity of Technology (QUT), the Queensland Art Gallery
by virtue of their inclusion as part of the family visitor (art museum), the Queensland Museum (natural and so­
demographic. The impact of museums on the lives and cial history museum), the Queensland Sciencentre (inter­
learning of young children has been largely ignored. A active science and technology centre) and Global Arts Link
survey of the literature pertaining to young children’s (visual arts and social history museum). From the col­
museum experiences leads us to several conclusions. First, laborative efforts of this group, a baseline study was con­
there is a notable lack of investigation concerning the ducted in 1998 with funding from each of the partners
(continued on next page)

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YOUNG CHILDREN’S LEARNING IN MUSEUM SETTINGS (CONT.)
(Piscitelli, et al., 1999). In the process of conducting that Research Plan, Methods, and Techniques
study, it became clear that immense learning potential The broad theoretical framework in which this study
existed in museums but many opportunities were lost due of young children’s interactive and informal learning in
to a variety of factors such as poor interaction, large group museums is situated lies primarily within the human and
size, insufficient time, infrequent visits and lack of coop­ social constructivist domains (Ausubel, Novak, &
eration between schools and museums. Consequently, the Hanesian, 1978; Driver, 1993; Gergen, 1995; Lave, 1988;
team developed a set of questions and an innovative, sys­ Lave & Wenger, 1991; Mintzes & Wandersee, 1998;
tematic approach to gathering information about young Mintzes, Wandersee, & Novak, 1997). These views of
children’s learning in various museum environments. learning posit that subsequent changes in knowledge and
In March 2000, the QUT Museums Collaborative was understanding are produced through the individual’s ex­
formed and comprised the aforementioned museum part­ posure to successive experiences, which are interpreted
ners plus a wider group of researchers from the univer­ in the light of their own prior knowledge and understand­
sity, whose expertise and interest lay within area of visi­ ing. Thus an individual’s knowledge and understanding is
tors studies. Funding for the Collaborative was provided in a continual state of change as new experiences, medi­
through the Australian Research Council (ARC), the mu­ ated through social contexts, are encountered and inter­
seum partners, and the university for a larger three-year preted by the learner.
study that aims to provide the first comprehensive inter­ We also view learning as both a process and a product
national data on the experiences of young children in mu­ that encompasses several dimensions, including socio–
seums, using a highly innovative procedure and approach. cultural, cognitive, aesthetic, motivational, and collabo­
The project is designed to advance rative. Cognitive perspectives encom­
basic knowledge of children’s learn­ pass the belief that knowledge is con­
ing in museums incorporating inves­ structed through interaction with ob­
tigative techniques, with a view to “… children regarded jects and people (Hein, 1995; Jacob,
maximising the learning potential of 1992; Jeffrey-Clay, 1998). Aesthetic
museums as places that were
young children visiting museums. theories focus on the affective, emo­
The team is in the initial stages of happy, exciting, and provided tional and pleasurable experiences and
implementing and monitoring a com­ opportunities to learn, and activities of learners (Housen, 1992;
munity-museum research and training Kindler, 1998). This orientation to
program. In so doing, it is envisaged gain many ideas.” learning in museums assists with mak­
that children will have heightened ing judgments about the non-cognitive
learning experiences and will build dimensions of museum visits by fo­
sound relationships with museums to cusing on visitors’ personal responses
support lifelong learning. Outcomes of the project are with emotions such as joy, disgust, shock, and delight.
also expected to challenge current constructions of child Motivational aspects of learning (Paris, 1998,
learning in school education. Five key aims were estab­ Csikzentmihalyi & Hermanson, 1995) describe visitors’
lished for the collaborative research project including: (1) use of a variety of processes to give direction to their learn­
to use innovative procedures and technologies to examine ing in a museum setting. Examples of this include the
and assess young children’s understanding of museum option to make choices, willingness to accept challenges,
exhibits and environments; (2) to examine the impact of capacity to take control of own learning, as well as oppor­
high quality repeated visits to museums on young tunity to work in collaboration with others, and positive
children’s learning; (3) to identify the personal, social and consequences (benefits) for action. Collaborative perspec­
contextual factors that affect young children’s informal tives are included in many of the orientations mentioned
and interactive museum-based learning; (4) to develop and above. For example, co-construction of knowledge (where
implement new and innovative community and museum a more knowledgeable person assists a novice) is widely
programs to sustain high quality outcomes for children’s considered to be essential in informal learning and is an
museum-based learning; and (5) to explain the ways in essential component of cognitive, socio-cultural and mo­
which young children become enculturated into the world tivational views on learning (Litwak, 1993). A second
of museums, how and what they learn, and the values they dimension of collaborative learning involves institutional
(and their families and schools) ascribe to their museum­ collaboration for the benefit of learners, as in school­
based experiences. museum links or family-museum links (Gardner, 1991,
Piscitelli, 1988). In the study, consideration will be given
to each of the above learning theories as lenses for high-

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YOUNG CHILDREN’S LEARNING IN MUSEUM SETTINGS (CONT.)
lighting personal characteristics, working styles, intrinsic duration, weekday/weekend, portion of day’s activities);
motivation, and socially mediated approaches to children’s cultural values (e.g., support for arts, environment, sci­
learning in museums. Our analysis focuses attention on ence); and views about learning (cognitive, aesthetic, mo­
the teaching-learning experiences afforded in museums. tivational, collaborative). The researchers will track four
We target aspects of each theory in order to build up a classes of 30 children (n =120), their parent/s, and teach­
composite picture of the learning taking place. ers through a series of museum visits to evaluate outcomes
of the visits and document changes in personal and group
Overall project structure responses to these learning sites. A control group of 120
For the purposes of this study, “school” includes child children and their caregivers (not engaged in the new visi­
care centres, kindergartens, preschools and primary tor programs) will be randomly selected from the museum
schools. The participants will be volunteers from inner­ lists and invited to participate.
urban Brisbane and Ipswich, and will represent a broad Statistical analysis of the survey data will be ongoing,
socioeconomic cross-section of the community. The and will tabulate respondents’ age, gender, preferences for
project involves three concurrent, interrelated studies to exhibits, frequency of visits, family participation, values
be undertaken over a three-year period, concentrating on toward the arts and sciences, and views about learning.
the experiences young children aged 4 to 8 years, from a Qualitative (written and/or recorded) responses will be
range of multicultural and socioeconomic backgrounds analysed, having regard to the theoretical positions out­
in southeast Queensland. The project is structured to ex­ lined previously, and categorised to identify emerging
amine four components of learning: the individual (the themes and patterns in data.
young child), the setting (museum environment); the cur­
riculum (the exhibitor’s and curator’s intentions); and the Study 2: Learning in museums
instructor (the museum and its program). In this study, we will audiotape and videotape
children’s in-gallery conversation and behaviors and fol­
Study 1: Quality and frequency of low-up interview eight target groups (two from each target
young children’s museum visits school) of four children (n =32) who are participating in
In this study, we will explore the impact of regular/ different types of museums experiences during Year 2. We
frequent museum visits on young children. Questions in will document and analyse the welcome experience, adult­
the child and adult forms will be in four categories: per­ child interaction, children’s responses to the museum and
sonal preferences (e.g., likes, dislikes); visiting habits (e.g., (continued on next page)

Children engaging at the Coral Reef

Diorama at the Queensland Mu­
seum.

Vol. III/Issue 3 Visitor Studies Today! 5

YOUNG CHILDREN’S LEARNING IN MUSEUM SETTINGS (CONT.)
its exhibits, and children’s insights. Audio, video, and in­ 1 and 3) including strategic financial and operational plans
terview data will be analysed with sensitivity to the vari­ as they apply to visitor services. Records of environmen­
ous learning perspectives documented above (cognitive, tal designs, front-end planning and administrative deci­
sociocultural, aesthetic, motivational and collaborative). sions relating to programs for young children will be
Audio data will be analysed categorically to obtain fre­ compiled;
quencies and distributions of different types of talk and b) Inter-museum cooperation—Specific data-gather­
qualitatively by conversational unit to establish style, ing tools to document change will be developed by the
theme, focus, intent and content of the discourse. Our team in the first year of the project to suit the expressed
task will be to report on children’s learning by way of the needs of each partner museum. Interviews will be con­
central theoretical positions stated previously. Videotape ducted with museum staff (paid and voluntary) in Years 1
will be analysed with a particular emphasis on non-verbal and 3. Rating scales will be administered in Years 1 and 3
interactions and communicative contacts of the children to gauge the effectiveness of the training program for the
with each other and with the guide and teacher/parent. staff cohort. Staff involved in delivery of programs will
Audio and video data will be compared for cohesion of also be asked to maintain a brief diary of their practices in
descriptions and explanations of children’s learning. All Year 2;
observation data (field notes, videotape and photographic c) Community links—Teachers and parents will be
records) will be thematically coded with attention to gen­ asked to rate (in Years 1 and 3) the effectiveness of the
der, personal interest and the links to audio-recorded con­ museums program relative to their needs and to indicate
versations. Triangulation of data sets and museum/uni­ dimensions of the program (individual, setting, curricu­
versity researcher perspectives will be lum instruction) needing special atten­
a central part of the data analysis pro­ tion to maximise the learning experi­
cess in this study. ence for children. Perceptions of the
“… children’s salient
museum focus, their children’s re­
recollections of their past
Study 3: Museum partnerships with sponses to museum visits, durability
museum visits centered on
families and schools of discussion on museum content and
experiences which appeared
In Study 3 we will build sustain­ experiences and other relevant data on
to be non-interactive in
able systems to support young changes in their museum visiting hab­
nature, and directed towards
children’s learning within museums its will be documented. Parents and
the large-scale exhibits in the
and local communities (including teachers will be asked to maintain a
Queensland Museum.”
families and schools). Three systemic brief diary in Year 2 of their experi­
inquiries will be undertaken: ence of touring their children through
a) intra-system study of internal the museums. In analysing the data
museum policies and practices (e.g., policy and planning sets, particular attention will be given to documenting
documents such as strategic, operational and financial changes in strategic approaches to curriculum design and
plans); implementation and to developing understandings about
b) inter-system study of the four museums’ collabora­ young children’s learning in museums. Patterns in the
tive efforts for enhancing visitor learning (e.g., partner­ culture of museum/school/community partnerships will
ship strategy, cooperative approaches to program devel­ be recorded.
opment) and
c) studies of museum/school/community links (e.g., Emerging and Anticipated Outcomes
case studies of individuals within the project). In general terms we see seven key outcome for the
Interventions (new program designs) will be developed three year study. (1) New information and insights on
and piloted in late 2000 and implemented in the second young children’s learning in museum settings that may
year (2001) to augment improvement in the delivery of challenge current understandings of informal learning in
learning services to young children. These interventions settings such as schools; (2) Greater use of museums by
will be examined for their impact on various audiences, children and families as sites for learning and develop­
including children, schools, families and museum staff. ment; (3) Manuals of operation for enhanced visitor learn­
The four museums (the industry partners), four schools, ing programs in museums; (4) Partnership programs within
and 120 young children/families involved in the study are and across museums that better link different staff skills
the same participants described in Studies 1 & 2. We will and create more integrated exhibitions and education pro­
collect data on: grams; (5) Realisation and better use by schools of muse­
a) Internal museum policies and practices—(in Years ums as learning sites; (6) Increase in the skills of museum

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YOUNG CHILDREN’S LEARNING IN MUSEUM SETTINGS (CONT.)
(volunteer and paid) staff in regard to program design, periences; and finally, a series of 4-point Likert scales
curriculum implementation and research monitoring/re­ which probed children’s perspectives of the nature and
search-based decision-making; and (7) Redefinition of the character of museums settings.
relationship of museums with children, schools and com­ The survey was administered to a total of four classes
munities. (preschool and lower primary) in two different schools in
As of September, 2000 all the studies data collection a major Australian metropolitan city, comprising a total
protocols have been developed. Of emerging significance of 77 children (43 males, 34 females). The children in this
and interest are the findings from the pilot of an instru­ study lived in close proximity to three of our industry part­
ment called the Child Focused Survey (CFS). The CFS ners—Queensland Museum, Queensland Sciencentre, and
was designed and developed specifically for the purposes Queensland Art Gallery. Hence, the vast majority of the
of identifying young children’s perspectives of museum children’s past museum experience were developed from
exhibits and environments, including their past experi­ visits to these settings. The Queensland Museum was typi­
ences, personal values concerning museum experience, cal of many such museums of its kind and contained di­
and past visiting habits. The CFS protocol comprised three oramas of native flora and fauna, artifacts of indigenous
sections: a free-choice drawing activity in which children and post-European Australian social history, and large
were asked to draw about any aspect of museums that they scale models of dinosaurs and dinosaur skeletons. The
wished; a semi-structured interview in which researchers vast majority of these exhibits could be classified as static,
probed children’s recollections of their past museum ex- noninteractive displays. The Queensland Sciencentre gal­
leries portrayed a diversity of science topics: light, sound,
mechanics, electricity and magnetism, and an interactive
play gallery for children called Science Spot. Most ex­
hibits were stand-alone, “hands-on,” and phenomenon­
based, with few readily accessible contextual links to real­
world applications of the scientific principles they at­
tempted to demonstrate. The Queensland Art Gallery con­
tained numerous collections of art portrayed in traditional
fashion with few links or connections to a visitor’s every­
day life experiences. The gallery provided two interac­
tive exhibits for children each year and focused on intro­
ducing them to the discipline, traditions, and pleasure of
art.
Children’s responses arising from the interviews, Likert
scales, and the main contents of their drawings were cat­
egorized into groups. The groups were formed around
common responses and common attributes of their draw­
ings and cross-tabulated by variable of types of museums
they had previously visited. The pilot of the CFS is sig­
nificant because it presents insights into the perspectives
children hold about museums and the memories that are
salient to them. We see several interesting issues emerg­
ing from this study that may be both supported and ex­
trapolated from other studies and theoretical stances.
First, it was clear from our conversations with all of
the children who had visited museums that their experi­
ences were overwhelmingly positive. This was further af­
firmed in the analysis of the Likert-scale data relating to
children’s perceptual dimension of learning and affect. Our
data demonstrated that children regarded museums as
places that were happy, exciting, and provided opportuni­
ties to learn and gain many ideas.
Children playing in the Dinosaur Garden at the Queensland Second, it seems that children’s spontaneous recollec­
Museum. (continued on next page)

Vol. III/Issue 3 Visitor Studies Today! 7

YOUNG CHILDREN’S LEARNING IN MUSEUM SETTINGS (CONT.)
tions of museum experiences and their free choice draw­ dren would have pre-existing knowledge and understand­
ing relating to museums were predominantly drawn from ings of the various large-scale transportation vehicles and
their experiences in the Queensland Museum. Further­ dinosaurs on display. This finding is entirely consistent
more, the common thread connecting young children’s with traditional and contemporary views of constructivism
experiential recall appears to centre about exhibits and (Anderson, 2000, 1999; Ausubel, et al., 1978; Mintzes &
objects that were large, e.g., dinosaurs, large-scale diora­ Wandersee, 1998; Mintzes et al., 1997), but has, however,
mas and exhibits, and full-scale transportation vehicles. not been previously demonstrated with a museum audi­
This finding is supported by Cone and Kendall’s (1978) ence of this age group. Our conjectures are also supported
study of family behavior in the Science Museum of Min­ by Vallance (1995), who describes the difficulties that visi­
nesota, and Kindler and Darras’s (1997) study. One of tors have in connecting and making meaning of their ex­
the conclusions drawn from Cone et al.’s (1978) study was periences in art museums. Vallance questions the
that large-scale exhibits (dioramas and the like) had strong traditional practice of art museums in the way they delib­
holding and attracting power for family groups during their erately portray objects in the absence of context and
museum visits, and furthermore were later the most re­ advocates a need for these types of museums to provide
membered exhibits of their museum experiences. Kindler connections with visitors’ prior knowledge to make the
et al.’s (1997) study indicated that children had strong as­ overall experience more rewarding.
sociations of museums and notions of large-scale or big The clear message emergent from this study is that
physical attributes and exhibits. museums will better serve their audiences by providing
Third, of interest to the researchers and the museum readily accessible contexts and links for young visitors to
community, is the fact that children’s understand the collections and exhib­
salient recollections of their past mu­ its. The challenge for museums and
seum visits centered on experiences museum educators lies in understand­
which appeared to be noninteractive in “… museums will better serve ing their young visitor audience in
nature, and directed toward the large­ their audiences by providing terms of the knowledge, understand­
scale exhibits in the Queensland Mu­ readily accessible contexts ings, and interests that they bring with
seum. Indeed, statistically significant them to their museum experiences.
and links for young visitors to Furthermore, it would seem that it is
differences were identified (p<.001) in
children’s positive perspective con­ understand the collections not merely sufficient to provide con­
cerning the Queensland Museum, and exhibits.” textual links and connections embed­
compared with those who had visited ded within the messages of exhibi­
either the art gallery and/or the inter­ tions. Rather, these links must be eas­
active science and technology center. ily recognisable by young visitors. It
This finding appears to be counter-intuitive since much of is from the starting point of making the connection be­
the literature on visitors’ experiences suggests that exhib­ tween exhibit and young visitor that more detailed mes­
its which are multi-sensory, hands-on, and interactive are sages are able to be communicated and, in turn,
key attributes for visitor enjoyment and memorability of remembered.
museum-based experiences (Anderson & Lucas, 1997;
Duterroil, 1975; Falk & Dierking, 1992; Field, 1975; Peart, Significance of the

1984; Wright, 1980). In our opinion, neither the art gal­ QUT Museums Collaborative Study

lery nor the interactive science and technology center ex­ The study is providing empirical evidence of a local
hibitions provided context or links to children’s everyday transformation of museum culture to accommodate the
life experience. However, the exhibits and displays of the characteristics and interests of young children in science,
Queensland Museum, intentionally or otherwise, had many art, technology, aesthetics, and history. Through this study,
links to children’s past experiences. and the enhanced communication between staff in differ­
Our conjecture is that exhibits and museum experi­ ent areas of the museum, we will add important data to
ences which provide context and links with children’s own the international museum sector in terms of attracting,
prior knowledge and past experience seem to rate more maintaining and evolving programs to suit the interests
positively in a range of perceptual dimensions than ex­ and knowledge of a large cohort of museum visitors.
hibits and experiences which are decontexualized in na­ The significance of this project lies in the collabora­
ture. For example, it is likely that children had previously tive design and focus around children and their learning,
seen pictures of the animals portrayed in the Queensland the capacity to redress lost learning opportunities in mu­
Museum in books or on TV. Likewise, many of the chil­ seums that were realised during preliminary studies, and

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YOUNG CHILDREN’S LEARNING IN MUSEUM SETTINGS (CONT.)
the potential of challenging existing views of children’s References
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rect benefit to school education. There is also potential related post-visit activities. Science Education, 84(5) 658­
economic benefit to Australian museums applying mod­ 679.
els of development and education derived from the project, Anderson, D. (1999). The development of science con­
thereby attracting larger numbers of children and their cepts emergent from science museum and post-visit ac­
schools and families. We expect, through establishment tivity experiences: Students’ construction of knowledge.
of high-quality, sustainable educative programs within mu­ Unpublished Doctor of Philosophy thesis, Queensland
seums, there will be increased informal, interactive learn­ University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.
ing opportunities, enduring outcomes for children, and Anderson, D. (1998, August). An analysis of the im­
more effective partnerships among museums and between portance of informal and formal science learning contexts
museums, schools and families. to each other: An overview perspective. Proceedings of
We also expect that staff within the museums will gain the Learning Science in Informal Contexts Conference,
significant collaboration and research skills, thereby sus­ Questacon, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
taining and further developing informal learning opportu­ Anderson, D., and Lucas, K.B., (1997). The effec­
nities in museums. The project provides a model of inter­ tiveness of orientating students to the physical features of
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