The Exploratory Behavior Scale: Assessing young visitors' hands‐on behavior in science museums

Tessa J.P. van Schijndel · Rooske K. Franse · Maartje E. J. Raijmakers

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Museums and Cultural Heritage Science Education and Pedagogy Early Childhood Education and Development

Abstract

Abstract In this paper, we introduce the Exploratory Behavior Scale (EBS), a quantitative measure of young children's interactivity. More specifically, the EBS is developed from the psychological literature on exploration and play and measures the extent to which preschoolers explore their physical environment. A practical application of the EBS in a science museum is given. The described study was directed at optimizing parent guidance to improve preschoolers' exploration of exhibits in science center NEMO. In Experiment 1, we investigated which adult coaching style resulted in the highest level of exploratory behavior at two exhibits. In Experiment 2, we investigated whether informing parents about an effective way of coaching influenced preschoolers' exploratory behavior at two exhibits. The results of the study demonstrate the added value of the EBS in visitor behavior research: compared to existing global measures of visitor interactivity; the EBS adds information about the quality of the hands‐on behavior. Compared to existing detailed measures of visitor interactivity, the EBS has the advantage of being applicable in different museum settings and enabling comparisons between exhibits or exhibitions. In addition, the EBS allows for quantification of unanticipated behavior. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed 94:794–809, 2010

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References

2004Designs for learning: Studying science museum exhibits that do more than entertain 2003Dialogic inquiry in life science conversations of family groups in a museum 1994Family behavior and learning in informal science settings: A review of the research 1994Reexamining connections: Museums as science learning environments 1998Paying Attention: Visitors and Museum Exhibitions 2003Technological novelty and open‐endedness: Two characteristics of interactive exhibits that contribute to the holding of visitor attention in a science museum 1987It's the company you keep … The social determination of learning-related behaviour in a science museum 1994The relationship between visitor characteristics and learning‐associated behaviors in a science museum discovery space

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2020Exploration, Explanation, and Parent–Child Interaction in Museums 2017Causal learning is collaborative: Examining explanation and exploration in social contexts 2018Do individual differences in children’s curiosity relate to their inquiry-based learning?2016The Particular Aspects of Science Museum Exhibits That Encourage Students’ Engagement

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