Abstract
Although science centres and museums are important educational resources, school trips to these sites are not often conducted in a manner that exploits their full potential for learning. This thesis aims to investigate whether teacher practice during and surrounding school trips could be enhanced to better support student learning. To this end, a theoretically-derived Framework for Museum Practice (FMP) is proposed (DeWitt & Osborne, in press). Although many of the recommendations made by the FMP are supported by the literature, an instantiation of such guidelines has been untested.
Consequently, the thesis research consisted of a small-scale design experiment in which resources developed in accordance with the principles of the FMP were tested. The research focused on six teachers – four primary and two secondary – who implemented these resources, and data were collected before, during and after their class trips.
The findings provide support for the FMP. For instance, teacher interviews following the experience indicated that they responded positively to the characteristics of the activity, although it fitted more closely with the context of the primary teachers than that of the secondary teachers. Field notes and transcripts of teacher-student discourse also reveal that teachers engaged in the kinds of behaviours the FMP aimed to support (such as encouraging student collaboration and emphasising purpose). In addition, there were subtle but clear differences in teacher-student discourse in the classroom and museum settings.
The field notes also provide evidence of student behaviours consistent with cognitive and affective engagement. Transcripts of talk between students reinforce the field notes, reflecting collaboration as well as positive affect and some higher-order thinking about content. Finally, comparison of students’ pre- and post-interviews reveal that students gained cognitively, and that they found the experience to be positive from an affective standpoint as well.
The findings of this thesis would suggest, then, that the FMP may offer, with some qualifications, a guide for the development of museum-provided resources. Such resources would then have the potential to improve teachers’ utilisation of informal science institutions and, in turn, their impact on pupil learning.
Correspondence
