Conversation and Object Manipulation Influence Children’s Learning in a Museum

The effects of parent–child conversation and object manipulation on children’s learning, transfer of knowl-edge, and memory were examined in two museum exhibits and conversations recorded at home. Seventy-eight children (Mage = 4.9) and their parents were randomly assigned to receive conversation cards featuring elaborative questions about exhibit objects, the physical objects themselves, both, or neither, before their exhi-bit visits. Dyads who received the cards engaged in more elaborative talk and joint nonverbal activities with objects in the first exhibit than those who did not. Dyads who received objects engaged in the most parent– child joint talk. Results also illustrate transfer of information across exhibits and from museum to home. Implications for understanding mechanisms of informal learning and transfer are discussed. Experiences in museums can be a key to children’s developing interest and understanding of culture and science. Researchers and educators have stressed that these informal educational experiences are important in the science, technology, engineer-ing, and math (STEM) learning process (e.g., Bell, Lewnstein, Shouse, & Feder, 2009; National Scienc