Parents\u27 and Experts\u27 Awareness of Learning Opportunities in Children\u27s Museum Exhibits

Informal learning outside of school is crucial for a child\u27s development. Children\u27s museums, in particular, are environments conducive to this sort of learning, especially when parents guide children\u27s exploration. However, research suggests a gap between parents\u27 and experts\u27 perceptions of the value of informal learning. In Study 1, we asked groups of parents and experts (i.e., individuals in the community connected with the field of education or those with training in child growth and development) to rate the presence of learning opportunities available in two museum exhibits, finding that parents consistently provided lower ratings. In Study 2, we explored whether signage aimed at orienting parents toward the learning potential in these exhibits would have an impact on their ratings. Results suggested that signage made parents\u27 ratings look more like those of experts. Taken together, these studies show that a simple intervention can help parents perceive the learning opportunities in children\u27s museum exhibits as experts do