Abstract
The aim of this chapter is to provide anyone working with visitors to informal learning settings with knowledge and ideas to provide high quality learning experiences through better social interactions using questioning. Questions can be between learners and any number of adults. One of the key attributes of good teaching and learning is being able to ask the right question at the right time, something that the best teachers do regularly. Good questions come from listening to learners to provide further points in dialogue that challenge thinking and promote deeper learning. In informal learning spaces such as museums and galleries the challenge, for people not trained and experienced as teachers, is to interact with learners without reproducing the formalities of the classroom. Providing worksheets of questions can deaden the experience and excitement of learners and might limit meaningful and free exploration. What is needed are careful strategies, sympathetic to informal learning environments, but capable of stimulating the sort of ‘breakthrough behaviours’ that lead to deeper learning. In this chapter we discuss research on what makes oral questioning and in written text most productive and how this can be applied to informal settings. Several examples, used in museums and galleries, to help museum staff, docents, volunteers and teaching assistants interact with learners more productively, to better question artefacts and exhibits, and interact with each other are shown and discussed.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Allen, S. (1997). Commentary: Sociocultural theory in museums: Insights and suggestions. Journal of Museum Education, 22(2 and 3), 8–9.
Anderson, D. (1997). A common wealth: Museums in the learning age. London: Department of National Heritage.
Bell, P., Lewenstein, B., Shouse, A. W., & Feder, M. A. (Eds.). (2009). Learning science in informal environments: People, places, and pursuits. National Academies Press.
Braund, M. (2000). Enrichment beyond the classroom. Child Education, July 2000, 58–59.
Braund, M. (2004). Learning science at museums and hands-on centres. In M. Braund & M. Reiss (Eds.), Learning science outside the classroom (pp. 113–128). London: RoutledgeFalmer.
Brodie, K. (2007). Dialogue in mathematics classrooms: Beyond question-and-answer methods. Pythagoras, 66, 3–13.
Bruffee, K., (1995), Sharing our toys. Cooperative learning versus collaborative learning. Change, 12–18.
Brush, T., & Saye, J. W. (2002). A summary of research exploring hard and soft scaffolding for teachers and students using a multimedia supported learning environment. The Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 1(2), 1–12.
Camhi, J. (2008). Pathways for communicating about objects on guided tours. Curator, 51(3), 275–294.
Cox-Petersen, A. M., Marsh, D. D., Kisiel, J. F., & Melber, L. M. (2003). Investigation of guided school tours, student learning, and science reform recommendations at a museum of natural history. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 40(2), 200–218.
DeWitt, J., & Hohenstein, J. (2010). School trips and classroom lessons: An investigation into teacher-student talk in two settings. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 47(4), 454–473.
Dick, J. (2014). Examining the use of worksheets during a biology fieldtrip to the zoo. Unpublished M.Sc. research report, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
Dierking, L., Falk, J. H., Rennie, L. J., Anderson, D., & Ellenbogen, K. (2003). Policy statement of the “Informal Science Education” Ad Hoc Committee. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 40(2), 108–111.
Edwards, D., & Mercer, N. (1987). Common knowledge: The growth of understanding in the classroom. London: Routledge.
Falk, J. H., & Dierking, L. D. (2000). Learning from museums: Visitor experiences and the making of meaning. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.
Falk, J. H., Moussouri, T., & Coulson, D. (1998). The effect of visitors’ agendas on museum learning. Curator, 41(2), 107–120.
Gregory, R. (2013). Science through play. In R. Levinson & J. Thomas (Eds.), Science today: Problem or crisis (pp. 100–109). London: Routledge.
Hattie, J. (2013). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. London: Routledge.
Hein, G. E. (1998). Learning in the museum. London: Routledge.
Hohenstein, J., & Tran, L. U. (2007). Use of questions in exhibit labels to generate explanatory conversation among science museum visitors. International Journal of Science Education, 29(12), 1557–1580.
Hooper-Greenhill, E. (1991). Museum and gallery education. London: Leicester University Press.
Kisiel, J. F. (2003). Teachers, museums and worksheets: A closer look at a learning experience. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 14(1), 3–21.
Legget, J. (Ed.). (2011). Staff and training in regional museums. Paris: International Committees of the International Council of Museums (ICOM).
Leinhardt, G., Crowley, K., & Knutson, K. (Eds.). (2002). Learning conversations in museums. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Mortimer, E., & Scott, P. (2003). Meaning making in secondary science classrooms. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Nyamupangedengu, E. (2010). Worksheets and learning in South African museums. M.Sc. research report, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. Retrieved from http://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/handle/10539/8542.
Nyamupangedengu, E., & Lelliott, A. D. (2012). An exploration of learners’ use of worksheets during a science museum visit. African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 16(1), 82–99.
Nystrand, M., Gamoran, A., Kachur, R., & Prendergast, C. (1997). Opening dialogue. New York: Teachers College Press.
Sinclair, J. M., & Coulthard, R. M. (1975). Towards an analysis of discourse: The English used by teachers and pupils. London: Oxford University Press.
Tal, T., & Morag, O. (2007). School visits to natural history museums: Teaching or enriching? Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 44(5), 747–769. doi:10.1002/tea.20184.
Tran, L. U. (2007). Teaching science in museums: The pedagogy and goals of museum educators. Science Education, 91(2), 278–297.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1980). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Yoon, S. A., Elinich, K., Wang, J., Van Schooneveld, J. B., & Anderson, E. (2013). Scaffolding informal learning in science museums: How much is too much? Science Education, 97(6), 848–877.
Zhai, J., & Dillon, J. (2014). Communicating science to students: Investigating professional botanic garden educators’ talk during guided school visits. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 51(4), 407–429.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Braund, M., Lelliott, A. (2017). Opening up the Dialogic Space. Using Questions to Facilitate Deeper Informal Learning. In: Patrick, P. (eds) Preparing Informal Science Educators. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50398-1_28
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50398-1_28
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-50396-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-50398-1
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)