Supporting family conversations and children's STEM learning in a children's museum

• Families with 4- to 8-year-old children were observed in a building construction exhibit at a children's museum.
• Families were randomly assigned to conditions that varied in terms of the instructions about a key engineering principle and elaborative question-asking that they received.
• Effectiveness of the program was assessed across conditions and cultural groups.
• Results have implications for understanding family conversation and children's STEM learning in families from diverse backgrounds.

This study tested the effectiveness of a facilitated educational program in a museum for promoting family conversations and children's learning about STEM. A sample of 130 families (71 European-American; 33 African-American; and 26 Hispanic-American) with children M age = 6.42 years were observed in a building construction exhibit. Prior to building, families were randomly assigned to conditions that varied in terms of the instructions about a key engineering principle and elaborative question-asking they received. Conversation instruction resulted in adults’ asking double the number of Wh-questions compared to families who did not receive the instruction. The building instruction was important in promoting increases in adults’ STEM-related talk during the building activity, as well as in the children's STEM talk when prompted for information about what they had learned. The effects of the instructions did not vary by families’ ethnic background. Implications for facilitating family conversations and children's learning related to STEM are discussed.