Studies in Educational Evaluation. Vol. 17, pp. 355-369, 1991 0191-491X/91 $0.00 + .50 Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved. ©1991 Pergamon Press plc

A STUDY OF CHILD-ADULT INTERACTION AT A NATURAL HISTORY CENTRE

Majory Martin, Sharon Brown and Terry Russell

The Centre for Research in Primary Science and Technology, Department of Education, University of Liverpool, P.O. Box 147, Liverpool, L69 3BX, U.K.

I n t r o d u c t i o n

In r e c e n t y e a r s the role of m u s e u m s ha s u n d e r g o n e s ign i f ican t

change. Tradi t ional ly, m u s e u m s were reposi tor ies of ' type' spec imens tha t

served as a r e fe rence po in t for s t u d y and r e s e a r c h by specia l is ts . The

general publ ic was able to see, from t ime to time, limited samples of these

s pe c ime ns .

R e c e n t d e v e l o p m e n t s m e a n t h a t th is is no longer the case. For

example , a t the Liverpool Museum, samples f rom reserve col lect ions are

be ing ma de available to the general public (Greenwood, Phillips & Wallace,

unda ted ) . Not only are o rd ina ry people gaining r eady access to reserve

collections, b u t the M u s e u m staff is also exper iment ing with different ways

of organis ing tha t access.

Among the innovat ions at the LiverpoOl M u s e u m serving as a resource

for sc ience learn ing is a Natural History Centre in which chi ldren, with or

w i thou t an adul t , are encou raged to par t ic ipa te in a n u m b e r of activities.

D e m o n s t r a t o r s are available in the Centre to provide gu idance and inform-

ation. It is t h rough such innovat ions tha t m u s e u m s are now playing a m u c h

more s igni f icant and active role in the t each ing and lea rn ing tha t takes

355

356 M. Mart in et al.

place dur ing a m u s e u m visit in contras t with their previous passivity in this

mat ter .

In order to make the mos t of th is new role, it is i m p o r t a n t to

u n d e r s t a n d bet ter the factors t ha t con t r ibu te to the learn ing tha t takes

place in m u s e u m s . Authors such as Lucas (1983) and Symington, Boundy,

Radford & Taylor (1986) have addressed some of the factors t ha t impact on

learning of science in informal sett ings. A range of t echniques have been

used to evaluate the learning tha t takes place in such settings; for example,

McManus (1987) unobt rus ive ly observed the behaviours of visitor groups

and Feher & Rice (1985) probed visitor in te rac t ion with var ious exhibits

and asked quest ions of the visitor at each step of interaction.

This paper reports on the t echniques t h a t were used to investigate

cognitive gain by chi ldren dur ing in te rac t ion with a fossil d isp lay area

within the Natural History Centre at the Liverpool Museum.

The Site for Data Collection

The s t u d y was conducted in the Natural History Centre (NHC) of the

Liverpool Museum. The NHC occupies a p rominen t posit ion in the na tu ra l

h is tory gallery and comprise an Activity Room abou t eight metres square

and an i r regular ly shaped Collections Room conta in ing 30 cabine ts with

a b o u t 20 ,000 spec imens (Figure 1). The Collect ions Room is entered

through the Activity Room.

l I Jl

1 IF IHI

I -

Figure 1: Ground Map of NHC with Fossil Activity Marked

Chi ld-Adul t Interaction 357

The NHC is l inked v isua l ly with the r e m a i n d e r of the gal lery by a

ser ies of glass spec imen cases tha t also provide windows into the Centre. A

n u m b e r of activity sites are provided in the NHC.

m

Figure 2: Pho tog raph Showing Magnified -Video & Monitor Se t -up

The site chosen for the da t a col lect ion was a fossil d isplay in one

c o m e r a rea of the Centre (Figures 1 and 2). A magnifying video camera was

se t up in a vert ical posi t ion so tha t a spec imen could be readi ly handled,

examined by the naked eye, or placed benea th the camera . Focuss ing knobs

could be ad jus ted if required.

Al though n u m b e r s of fossils, rocks and minera l s were available for

e x a m i n a t i o n by visi tors , the spec imen genera l ly left in place by m u s e u m

pe r s onne l was a piece of Wenlock l imestone con ta in ing n u m e r o u s fossils.

Hence th is was the spec i men on d isplay on the mon i to r sc reen be tween

p a r t i c i p a n t s , and was the f irs t s p e c i m e n a u s e r genera l ly saw. Some

pr in ted mater ia l was also available within the fossil activity area. Demon-

s t r a to r s were available in the Centre to answer ques t ions posed by visitors,

358 M. Martin et aL

and to give genera l s u p p o r t and gu idance related to the activities. Often,

d e m o n s t r a t o r s worked in con j unc t i on with a p a r t i c u l a r act ivi ty site. The

fossil activity was one such site.

The Data Collection

The da ta collected compr i sed an observa t iona l c o m p o n e n t t ha t was

followed by an interview component . An observat ional checkl is t relat ing to

a n u m b e r of different behav iours of the par t ic ipants at the fossil activity was

drawn up. The checkl is t was piloted and modified where necessary . Cross

check ing by the r e s e a r c h e r s en su r ed tha t cons i s t en t decis ions were made

about par t icular behaviours.

One focus for the r e s e a r c h was the in te rac t ion of ch i ld ren with the

fossil activity, and the impact tha t the p resence of an adult , with or wi thout

a d e m o n s t r a t o r , had on t ha t in te rac t ion . Hence the da ta were collected

from th ree types of groupings , child with adult , child with demons t r a to r ,

and child with adu l t and demons t ra to r . The chi ldren in the second type of

g roup observed , t h a t is, child wi th d e m o n s t r a t o r , were no t neces sa r i l y

u n a c c o m p a n i e d at the NHC. Some adu l t s a c c o m p a n i e d a child to the

Cent re and t h e n left the chi ldren to make thei r own decis ions abou t the

activities they would engage in while the adul t e i ther sa t on a chair near the

door of the Centre, or made i ndependen t observat ions in the Centre.

The i n t e rv i ew c o m p r i s e d t h r ee pa r t s . The f i rs t p a r t involved

ques t ions relat ing to r easons for the visit and knowledge abou t the Centre.

The s e q u e s t i o n s were a d d r e s s e d to an adu l t who had a c c o m p a n i e d a

par t ic ipa t ing child to the Centre, whe t he r or not the adul t had par t ic ipated

in the activity. The second par t compr ised ques t ions tha t were addres sed

to a child af ter the activity. The th i rd pa r t was admin i s t e red to an adul t

who had par t ic ipa ted in the activity with a child. Some ques t ions in the

th i rd pa r t re la ted to the adu l t pe rcep t ion of the child invo lvement and

learning, some related to adu l t reac t ion to the Centre. and some related to

the science background of the adult.

A me a n s of checking the observat ional da ta collected was provided by

a video c a m e r a m o u n t e d on the ceil ing above the ac t iv i ty a rea being

observed . A c o n t i n u o u s l y t imed video t ape was m a d e of the act iv i ty

sess ions . S o u n d for this tape was ob ta ined via a m i c r o p h o n e t ha t was

u n o b t r u s i v e l y a t t a ched to the magnify ing video camera . A set of head-

phone s was also connec ted to this mic rophone so tha t the conversa t ion of

v is i tors and d e m o n s t r a t o r s a t the fossil act ivi ty could be readi ly hea rd

Child-Adult Interaction 359

dur ing the obse rva t ion period. The pos i t ion of the r e s e a r c h e r relat ive to

t ha t of the visitors at the fossil activity is shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Diagram Showing Researcher n Relat ion to Activity Group

This art icle will add re s s only pa r t of the da ta collected, o ther resu l t s

will be repor ted separa te ly .

The Data and their Analysis

Obse rva t ions were car r ied ou t on a total of 51 chi ldren: ages were

available for 49. Ages of the chi ldren ranged from 4 to 17 with an average

of 8.7 yea r s and a mode of eight. These chi ldren were all interviewed. In

addit ion, a small n u m b e r of chi ldren, for whom observa t ions were incom-

plete, were interviewed. A s u m m a r y of the observa t iona l da ta is given in

Table 1. N r e p r e s e n t s the n u m b e r of ch i ld ren observed in each type of

group.

Ini t ia t ion and Termina t ion of Activity

Pa r t i c ipa t i on in the fossil ac t iv i ty was in i t ia ted in va r ious ways.

D e m o n s t r a t o r s might del ibera te ly engage visi tors in conversa t ion , pe rhaps

drawing the i r a t t en t ion to the fossil corner . Some visi tors adopted a more

active role, e i the r a p a r e n t or child ind ica t ing in t e re s t by moving to the

co rne r in which the activity was sited, si t t ing on the chai r provided, or by

360 M. Mart in et al.

t a k i n g a n u n a m b i g u o u s i n t e r e s t in t h e s p e c i m e n s or t h e i m a g e on the

m o n i t o r . A c o u p l e of v i s i t o r s w h o k n e w of t he C e n t r e f r o m p r i o r v i s i t s ,

b r o u g h t s p e c i m e n s w i t h t h e m for e x a m i n a t i o n a n d iden t i f i ca t ion .

T a b l e 1: T h e m e a n t o t a l s of o b s e r v a t i o n s m a d e for e a c h p a r t i c i p a n t in the t h r e e t y p e s of g r o u p s o b s e r v e d . (A 'Nil ' e n t r y in t h e t a b l e i n d i c a t e s t h a t no p a r t i c i p a n t exh ib i t ed the p a r t i c u l a r b e h a v i o u r )

O B S E R V A T I O N

G r o u p A G r o u p B G r o u p C Chi ld Adu l t Chi ld D e m o Chi ld Adu l t D e m o N = 7 N = 3 0 N = 1 4

C o n t r o l s Act iv i ty ie i n i t i a t e s or t e r m i n a t e s 0 .4 0 .6 0 .8 0 .2 0 .6 0 .3 0.1

T e c h n i q u e s of O p e r a t i o n Nil 1.1 0.1 0 .6 0 .2 0 .2 0.2

M a n i p u l a t i o n of Ob j ec t s 3 .9 2 .7 1.8 3 .2 1.6 0 .8 4.5

I n f o r m a t i o n / C o n t e n t 2 .6 3 .6 6.2 10 .8 6 .4 3 .9 14.7

E x p r e s s i o n of pos i t i ve a t t i t u d e 0 .4 0 .4 1 Nil 0 .8 0 .4 Nil

E x p r e s s i o n of n e g a t i v e a t t i t u d e Nil Nil 0.1 Nil Nil Nil Nil

C e n s u r e Nil 1 0 . 0 3 0 . 0 3 0.1 0.1 Nil

P r o c e s s e s Invo lv ing S p e c i m e n 0 .4 0 .4 0 .5 2 .3 0 .4 0 .9 1.6

P r o c e s s e s R e l a t e d to o t h e r e x p e r i e n c e s 0 .4 0 .4 2 .5 3 .6 0 .6 0 .9 4

T h e d a t a in T a b l e 1 s h o w t h a t g r o u p t y p e h a s a n i m p a c t on t h e

i n i t i a t i o n a n d t e r m i n a t i o n of t h e ac t iv i ty . F o r e x a m p l e , w h e r e a ch i ld

e n g a g e s w i t h a d e m o n s t r a t o r in t h e ac t iv i ty , b u t t h e r e is a n 80 p e r c e n t

c h a n c e t h a t t he chi ld will h a v e in i t i a t ed or t e r m i n a t e d the ac t iv i ty , b u t on ly

a 60 p e r c e n t c h a n c e t h a t a ch i ld will h a v e i n i t i a t e d or t e r m i n a t e d the

ac t i v i t y w i t h a d e m o n s t r a t o r if t h e y a r e a c c o m p a n i e d b y a n a d u l t to t he

act ivi ty . If no d e m o n s t r a t o r is p r e s e n t a t t he act ivi ty , t h e r e is on ly a 40 pe r

c e n t c h a n c e t h a t a chi ld , a c c o m p a n i e d b y a n adu l t , will h a v e i n i t i a t ed or

t e r m i n a t e d the act ivi ty .

T h e d a t a s h o w n in Tab l e 2 a l low a m o r e de ta i l ed a n a l y s i s of t he g r o u p

m e m b e r s to d e t e r m i n e w h e t h e r the m e m b e r w h o in i t i a t ed the ac t iv i ty w a s

m o r e l ike ly to t e r m i n a t e t he act ivi ty .

Table 2:

Child-Adult Interaction 361

A breakdown of da ta showing a compar ison between the member of the groups who ini t ia ted the fossil act ivi ty compared with those who t e rmina ted the activity. (The n u m b e r s in brackets r ep re sen t pe rcen tages . Data not available for one group of visitors)

Group Member Terminat ing the Activity

Demons t ra to r Child Adult Total

Demons t ra to r 2(4) 4(8) 1(2) 7(14)

Group Member Ini t iat ing the Child 9(18) 22(44) 4(8) 35(70) Activity

Adult 0 4(8) 4(8) 8(16)

11(22) 30(60) 9(18) 50 ( I00 )

Chi ldren p layed the mos t active role in bo th in i t ia t ing the in te rac t ions

(70%) and t e rmina t ing them (60%). Forty four per cent of all in teract ions

were bo th in i t ia ted and t e rmina t ed by chi ldren: the equivalent rate for

demons t ra to rs was 4% and for adul ts 8%.

The rat ios of i n i t i a t i ng / t e rmina t ing in terac t ions for members of the

groups were;

ch i l d r en 70 : 60

adults 16 : 18

d e m o n s t r a t o r s 14 : 22

These d a t a sugges t t h a t it is p r edominan t ly chi ldren who controlled the

ini t ia t ion and t e rmina t ion of in teract ion in the fossil activity in the NHC.

This does not imply tha t they also controlled the quali ty or the inter-action

itself.

Operat ion of the Equ ipment

The equ ipmen t was very easy to use and few ques t ions (total of 7,

three by adu l t s and four by children) were asked of the demons t ra to r s .

Ch i ld ren t ended to explore the opera t ion of the equ ipmen t , often by

362 M. Martin et al.

plac ing s ome p a r t of t he i r h a n d u n d e r the video c a m e r a , and were

in teres ted in wha t they saw on the moni tor sc reen ("Oh! Look at my hand.").

D e m o n s t r a t o r s t ended to encou r age s u c h exp lo ra t ion and m o s t of the i r

behavior in th is ca tegory re la ted to demons t r a t i ng and descr ib ing the way

in which the e q u i p m e n t opera ted . Adults , in the a b s e n c e of a demon-

s t ra tor , were likely to correct a child's t echn ique or admon i sh in some way,

for example, "Don't touch the equipment", "Take your hand away". This may

have re la ted to thei r own lack of familiari ty with the equ ipment , and a fear

t ha t if the spec imen became out of focus they would be unab le to correct

the si tuation.

Manipulat ion of Objects

A n u m b e r of spec imens were available for examina t ion . A piece of

Wenlock l imes tone was genera l ly placed u n d e r the video camera be tween

use r s and as such could be considered the prime focus for the fossil display.

Once the act ivi ty had commenced , any m e m b e r of the group was able to

change the s p e c i m e n being examined . A var ie ty of fossils, rocks and

m i n e r a l s was avai lable a t the ac t iv i ty si te wi th in easy r e a c h of the

par t ic ipants .

The da ta in Table i show tha t a child in Group A man ipu la t ed , on

average, more t han twice the n u m b e r of spec imens t han a child in e i ther

Group B or C. Adults and chi ldren were less likely to hand le spec imens if a

d e m o n s t r a t o r was present , leaving the man ipu la t ion of the spec imen to the

d e m o n s t r a t o r . S o m e t i m e s a d e m o n s t r a t o r was a s k e d if a p a r t i c u l a r

spec imen could be examined.

The Wenlock l imes tone con ta ined a myr iad of fossils and m a n y of

these were looked at in some detail by the visitor, pa r t i cu la r ly if a demon-

s t ra to r was present . For the purpose of scoring, one spec imen was scored

as one object no m a t t e r how m a n y fossils or minera l s it might conta in .

Hence the Wenlock l imes tone was scored as one object, a l though , by its

very n a t u r e , far more t ime m a y have been s p e n t on it t h a n on o the r

specimens. So, not only does the n u m b e r of spec imen manipu la ted need to

be cons idered bu t also the time taken for the activity. Table 3 out l ines the

average t ime spen t manipula t ing each object dur ing the activity.

F rom Table 3 it can be seen tha t , a l t hough the n u m b e r of s p e c i m e n s

handled , on average, by each type of g roup was similar, the average t ime

spen t examining each spec imen was different.

Table 3:

Child-Adult Interaction 363

The average time spent on each specimen by each type of group part icipat ing in the fossil activity

Group A Group B Group C Child+Adult Child+Demo Child+Adult+Demo

Objectives Manipula ted 6.6 5 6.9 (average)

Time on Activity (minutes) (average)

3.5 8.5 13

Average time per object 0.5 1.7 1.9

The average time spent per specimen by par t ic ipants in Group A (0.5 min)

was far less t h a n the time spent by par t ic ipants in Groups B (1.7min) and C

(1.9min). A child was prepared to spend more t ime engaged in the fossil

activity in the presence of a demons t ra to r t han wi thout a demonst ra tor . At

leas t par t of t h a t t ime increase was probably related to the demons t ra to r

point ing out several features of the Wenlock limestone. Given tha t the child

t e rmina ted the activity in the major i ty of cases, the child evidently saw

greater value, as judged by time spent , in having a demons t r a to r present

dur ing the activity. It seems tha t the child was making a j u d g e m e n t about

the qual i ty of the learning experience.

I n f o r m a t i o n / C o n t e n t

One indicator of the level of involvement of a child in the activity is

the extent to which they initiate communica t ion of some kind dur ing the

activity. The d a t a re la t ing to in format ion and con ten t can be fu r the r

classified as shown in Table 4. Chi ldren were more likely to engage in

verbal c o m m u n i c a t i o n a b o u t the fossil d i sp lay in the p resence of a

demons t ra to r . On average, they asked more ques t ions and offered more

comment s if a demons t ra to r was present . This may be because they saw

the demons t r a to r as an expert who knew the answers, compared with the

a d u l t s who, t h e y a s s u m e d , d idn ' t know. D e m o n s t r a t o r s made more

reques t s for in format ion (i.e. asked ques t ions of the visitor) and offered

more information when an adul t was present.

364 M. Mart in et al.

Table 4: The m e a n totals of obse rva t ions made with r e spec t to informat ion sought and given by each par t ic ipant in the three types of groups

INFORMATION/CONTENT

Group A Group B Group C Child Adult Child Demo Child Adult Demo N=7 N=30 N=14

Reques t s in format ion 1.4

Offers informat ion 0.6

Responds to r eques t 0.4

Reads label 0.1

Corrects in format ion 0

1.7 3 2.5 3.6 2.7 3.6

2 0.4 5.7 1.3 0.8 8.1

0.4 1.6 2.2 1.3 0.3 2.7

0.1 0.1 0.1 0 0.1 0.1

0.3 0 .03 0.3 0 0 0.2

16

14

12

10

Number of 8 Children

1

1

1

9

8

8

8

8

8

8

7

6

6 ?

0

Numbers in the columns are the ages of the children

asking the particular number of questions

1 : 1 4

1( 13 2

9 9 1" 10

8 8 1' 7

5 5 6 6

5 4 6 5

1 2 3 4 5

9

6 7 8 15

Number of Questions Asked by the Children

Figure 4: The Dis t r ibut ion of the Ages of the Chi ldren Asking a Par t icu la r N u m b e r of Q u e s t i o n s . (Note the s p r e a d of ages aga in s t a pa r t i cu la r n u m b e r of ques t ions asked. The seven yea r old who asked 15 ques t ions was a girl a t t end ing the activity alone with a d e m o n s t r a t o r )

Child-Adult Interaction 365

Also, d e m o n s t r a t o r s were less l ikely to t e r m i n a t e the ac t iv i ty in the

p re sence of an adul t (1 in 14 as aga ins t 1 in 30 with chi ldren alone). The

n u m b e r of ques t ions asked by the chi ldren ranged from zero to 15 with a

mode of zero. The ages of the chi ldren are indicated in the plot in Figure 4

in which the n u m b e r of chi ldren is shown agains t the n u m b e r of ques t ions

a s k e d by the ch i ld ren . The f igure d e m o n s t r a t e s t h a t the n u m b e r of

ques t ions asked by a child was age independent .

Expres s ion of At t i tudes

With one excep t ion any exp r e s s ion of a t t i t ude t owards the fossil

activity was positive. For example, "Look Dad, it's good".

Process Involving the Spec imen

Al though the re was some d i s cus s ion by the d e m o n s t r a t o r s of the

o b s e r v a t i o n s m a d e and an occas iona l a t t e m p t to gene ra l i s e f rom an

observa t ion , th is s egm en t was cha rac t e r i sed by a total absence of science

p r o c e s s e s s u c h as h y p o t h e s i s i n g and ra i s ing g e n e r a l i s e d ques t i ons .

P r e s u m a b l y the d e m o n s t r a t o r s saw the i r role as a source of in format ion

r a t h e r t h a n in s t ruc to r s in the processes of science. This is cons i s t en t with

the reac t ion of ch i ldren to the p resence of d e m o n s t r a t o r s (see below).

Rela t ionship with Other Exper iences

Some ch i ld ren re la ted the i r obse rva t ions to exper iences outs ide the

NHC b u t wi th in the m u s e u m . For example , a coup le r e l a t ed fossil

e c h i n o d e r m s to living o rgan i sms they had seen in the m u s e u m aquar ium.

More often, ch i l d r en re la ted the i r o b s e r v a t i o n s to eve ryday objec ts or

o rgan i sms . For example , a tr i lobite was compared with a wood louse, a

fossil sponge with a piece of lace and a fossil mollusc with a snail. Adults

u s e d s imilar analogies. This s t u d y has no way of knowing w h e t h e r such

compar i sons ass is ted child learning in the long term.

D e m o n s t r a t o r s were more l ikely to c o m p a r e the s p e c i m e n being

examined with o the r spec imens on display a r o u n d the act ivi ty area, or to

draw a t ten t ion to drawings on a nea rby reference sheet .

Chi ldren 's Response to the Activity

With the excep t ion of two ch i ld ren who failed to r e spond to the

ques t ion , all ch i ld ren t h o u g h t it was a good idea to have an adu l t or a

d e m o n s t r a t o r with them at the fossil activity. In r e sponse to the ques t ion

366 M. Mart in et al.

"How were you helped by the d e m o n s t r a t o r / y o u r parent?" the major i ty (43)

of chi ldren t hough t t ha t they had been helped by being told or shown some-

th ing re la ted to a spec imen. Four chi ldren t h o u g h t t hey had been helped

by be ing asked ques t ions and four re la ted the help t hey had received to

m a n a g e m e n t of the equipment .

In r e sponse to the ques t ion '~vVhat did you find ou t abou t while in tha t

area?", chi ldren gave answers tha t could be classified as follows:

Type of Answer Number Making Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

What fossils are - how they are formed 17 About specific c rea tu res - n a m e s / c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s About crystals About m i n e r a l s / r o c k s Interes t ing - looked at th ings in rocks About different s h a p e s / f o r m s About magn i f i ca t ion /mic roscopes Don' t k n o w / c a n ' t r e m e m b e r No c o m m e n t / n o t h i n g

14 6 3 2 4 2 3 5

So 86 per cen t of ch i ld ren could make some c o m m e n t a b o u t wha t

they had found out as a resul t of the activity. This inc luded 4 per cent who

made reference to some technica l a spec t of the display. The remain ing 14

per cen t were unab le to c o m m e n t abou t wha t they had found out. Some

p a r e n t s c o m m e n t e d t ha t the ch i ld ren were more l ikely to ta lk a t home

abou t wha t they had seen ra the r t han to a researcher .

Chi ldren see learning in the NHC as different f rom learning at school.

In r e sponse to the ques t ion "How is it different learn ing here t h a n it is in

school?", chi ldren gave the following types of responses"

Type of Answer Number Making Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

More spec imens and equ ipmen t in the NHC 13 More t ime here - can look and explore for yourse l f 3 Bet ter here - at school do maths , history, writ ing 12 Meet people - lots of people to help you 2 More to do here - no t boring 9 Not like work - fun, enjoyable 3 Can touch things in the NHC 9 About the same 2 No c o m m e n t / I don ' t know 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Clearly, some ch i ldren enjoy the sense of being in cont ro l of the i r

own learning s i tua t ion and being able to talk abou t the th ings they do and

Child-Adult Interaction 367

see in the Cent re with a range of people. Most of the i r u s u a l c lass rooms

would con ta in as m a n y chi ldren, or more, as did the act ivi ty room. The

ma in dif ferences for them, in t e rms of personal i t ies , would be the newness

of the o the r ch i ld ren e n c o u n t e r e d whils t in the room, and the n u m b e r of

adu l t s to w hom reference could be made if a s s i s t ance were required. The

a t m o s p h e r e wi th in the Cent re is one of co-operat ion, and chi ldren indicate

a sense of tha t in the way they act and approach others .

Twen ty - two of the ch i ld ren m a d e specif ic r e fe rence to the speci-

m e n s and e q u i p m e n t in the Centre , i nc lud ing nine who highl ighted the

"touchabil i ty" of things. Others implied tha t the equ ipmen t and spec imens

in the Cent re were an a t t rac t ion by talking abou t exploring and having more

to do there .

Discussion

The evidence ga thered and repor ted in this pape r s u p p o r t s the idea

tha t observat ional and interview da ta can be used to assess the learning of

chi ldren in an informal setting. The set t ing was the Natural History Centre

a t t he Liverpool m u s e u m , a Cent re t h a t genera l ly opens dur ing school

hol idays so tha t chi ldren a t tending the Centre do so, e i ther alone or with an

adult, usua l ly a pa ren t or grandparent .

A n u m b e r of r e s e a r c h e r s have repor ted on lea rn ing t ha t occurs in

informal set t ings. The set t ing for the r e sea rch in this paper con t ras t s with

some of those . For example, a l though the work by Feher and Rice (1985)

was ca r r i ed ou t in an in formal se t t ing, the ch i ld ren had come to the

m u s e u m with a class as par t of a school visit. So the visit itself had a comp-

onen t of formality. What was the expecta t ion of the t eache r responsible for

a r ranging the visit? What prior knowledge and ins t ruct ion , if any, had been

given to the ch i ld ren with regard to w h a t was expec ted of t hem? The

c u r r e n t s t u d y car r ied ou t at the NHC was no t c o n f o u n d e d by any such

c o m p o n e n t of formal prepara t ion .

The p re sen t s tudy compares with o thers in tha t it addresses learning

in the context of a 'family' type group within an informal learning si tuat ion.

For example , McManus (1987) record~ed conversa t ions be tween visi tors at

five d i f fe ren t loca t ions in the Br i t i sh M u s e u m (Natural History). She

r e c o r d e d a va r i e ty of types of g roups , i nc lud ing some t h a t con t a ined

children, inc luding t e a c h e r / p u p i l groups. McManus (1987) found tha t con-

ve r sa t ion wi thin a g roup inc reased when chi ldren were p r e s e n t bu t tha t

there was little a t t emp t to read informat ion t ha t might be supplied. This

368 M. Mar t in et al.

paral lels the behav iours repor ted here. There was little a t t emp t by visitors

to the NHC to read the labels on the spec imens , even w h e n s ignif icant ly

longer pe r iods were s p e n t a t the fossil act ivi ty. This h igh l igh t s the

impor tance of explorat ion and d iscuss ion in learning at an informal setting.

The chi ldren were able to identify these c o m p o n e n t s as impor t an t to them.

Alt (1980) and Griggs and /klt (1982). r epor t t ha t be tween 74 and 79

per cen t of visi tors to ,the Brit ish M useum (Natural History) over the period

1976 to 1981 inclusive, expec ted to acqui re some knowledge dur ing the i r

visit to the m u s e u m . In the c u r r e n t s tudy , 86 per cen t of the ch i ld ren

s u rve ye d were able to m a k e a specif ic c o m m e n t a b o u t w h a t t h e y had

learned as a resu l t of par t ic ipa t ing in a fossil activity. It is r easonab le to

a rgue that , if the ch i ld ren had an expec ta t ion of coming to the Cent re to

learn, then they would have been satisfied in tha t regard.

The ch i ldren ' s behav i ou r showed t h a t t hey were able to control the

learning s i tua t ion associa t ion with the fossil activity. They played the most

active role in bo th ini t iat ing the in te rac t ions and t e rmina t ing them. They

m a y no t have been able to control the qual i ty of the l ea rn ing exper iences

bu t did seem to be aware of differences in tha t regard. If one a s s u m e s tha t

the a w a r e n e s s was t r ans l a t ed into the length of t ime for which ch i ldren

were p repa red to par t ic ipate , t hen it appea r s tha t chi ldren made the judge-

m e n t t ha t the act ivi ty was a more va luab le a n d / o r en joyable exper ience

w he n a d e m o n s t r a t o r was p resen t . Chi ldren r ema ined at the activity, on

average, for a m u c h longer period when a d e m o n s t r a t o r was present .

The NHC is a child cent red , act ivi ty based Centre . Chi ldren enjoy

vis i t ing s u c h a cen t re and are h a p p y to engage in the l ea rn ing t a sk s

provided here. It is impor t an t t ha t avenues be explored to give e lucidat ion

to the learn ing t ha t does take place in informal set t ings. Only then are we

likely to take full advantage of the opportuni t ies .

A c k n o w l e d g e m e n t s

Mr. Phil Phillips of the Liverpool Museum is thanked for support and discussion.through the project.

MarJory Martin would like to thank the University of Liverpool, in particular Professor Wyrme Harlen and the members of the Centre for Research in Primary Science and Tech- nology, for their hospitality whilst she was a Visiting Fellow at the University, on Sabbatical leave from Victoria College, Australia.

Child-Adult Interaction 369

References

Alt, M.B. (1980). Four years of visitor surveys at the Bri t ish M u s e u m (Natural History) 1976-79. M u s e u m s Journal, 80, 10-19.

Feher, E. & Rice, K. (1985). Development of scientific concepts th rough the use of interactive exhibits in a museum. Curator, 28, 35-46.

Greenwood, E.F., Phillips, P.W. & Wallace, I.D. (Undated Draft Paper). The Natura l His tory Centre, Liverpool Museum. Liverpool: National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside.

Griggs, S.A. & Alt, M.B. (1982). Visitors to the Bri t ish Museum (Natural History) in 1980-1981. M u s e u m s Journal, 82, 149-155.

Lucas, A.M. (1983). Scientific l i teracy and informal learning. Studies in Science Education, 10, 1-36.

McManus , P. (1987). It's the company you keep .... The Internat ional Journal o f M u s e u m Management and Curatorship, 6, 263-270.

Symington, D., Boundy, K., Radford, TI'. & Taylor, R. (1986). Prior know- ledge and p r i m a r y pupi ls ' i n t e r ac t i on wi th a m u s e u m display. Research in Science Education, 16, 55-62.

Authors

MARJORY MARTIN, Ph.D. is Head of the Science D e p a r t m e n t Teacher

Educa t ion (Primary) at Victoria College, Austral ia . Her research interests

include s t uden t learning and unde r s t and ing in formal and informal settings,

and he r wri t ings have cen t red a r o u n d the deve lopment of c u r r i c u l u m

mater ia ls including a genetics textbook.

SHARON BROWN was a r e sea rch a s s i s t a n t based at the Univers i ty of

Liverpool, working on the M u s e u m Exhibit ion Evaluat ion Project. She is

current ly Assis tant Curator at Catalyst: the Museum of the Chemical Indust ry

in Widnes, U.K.

TERRY RUSSELL is Director of the Centre for Research in Pr imary Science

and Technology, (CRIPSAT) at the University of Liverpool, U.K.