FROM DINOSAURS TO DISCIPLINARY THINKING: EXPLORING THE IMPACT OF CHILDREN’S KNOWLEDGE ON FAMILY LEARNING TALK IN A DESIGNED LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

Abstract

This study explored the influence of young children’s dinosaur knowledge on parent-child learning talk in a dinosaur exhibition designed to support visitor engagement with disciplinary concepts. A knowledge assessment interview identified children between the age of 5 and 8 years old with expert and novice levels of dinosaur knowledge. Families completed a pre-test, a visit to a museum exhibition, and a post-test. Content and discourse analysis were used to examine the patterns of learning talk generated by 30 families—15 with experts and 15 with novices. Findings suggest the designed learning environment effectively supported parent engagement in a wide range of learning talk regardless of children’s level of dinosaur knowledge. However, findings also indicated that expert children initiated and engaged in disciplinary learning talk more than novice children. In addition, expert children and their parents were more equally engaged in disciplinary learning talk while in contrast novice parents initiated and managed significantly more of this kind of learning talk than their children. Taken together, these findings indicate that child knowledge can influence family opportunities to engage in learning talk about disciplinary concepts and suggest implications for the design of informal learning environments that can support increased family engagement with complex science concepts like ecology and evolution.

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