Learning at workstations in two different environments: A museum and a classroom

Our study compared the learning and motivational outcome of one educational approach in two different learning environments, a natural science museum and a classroom, drawing on studies about the effects of field trips on students’ learning and motivation. The educational intervention consisted of an introduction phase in the classroom and subsequent learning at workstations, either in the museum or the classroom. 190 secondary school students participated in the quasi-experimental design. We assessed knowledge and understanding by using a pre-, post- and retention-test design, and applied subscales of the ‘Intrinsic Motivation Inventory’ to consider motivational aspects. Students of the museum-group learnt more compared to the classroom-group, whereas motivation differed only in one subscale of the motivation test, with higher scores for the museum-group. Results are discussed in terms of the overall added value of field trips for school curricula.