Parent Explanations During Museum Visits: Gender Differences In How Children Hear Informal Science

This article presents an overview of two studies from a broader program of research designed to extend prior laboratory-based research on children's scientific thinking to the everyday contexts where it actually occurs. Author Kevin Crowley, a researcher at the University of Pittsburgh's Learning Research and Development Center, discusses their work designed to create a body of empirical findings and new theoretical models that could make a direct practical contribution to improving the ways that families learn about science during trips to museums. This article focuses on applied side of their work, which includes investigations of how different exhibit features influence the path and outcome of family learning, particularly with respect to a child's gender.