How can narrative reflection facilitate science learning in a museum setting?

Abstract

The aim of this research is to investigate how narrative reflection, which is possible to extend learning processes by reflecting and narrating the experience, facilitates science learning in a museum setting. Narrative reflection is an approach of sharing experiences through conversations with others. The research was conducted in NEMO science museum, with a newly designed narrative reflection activity. In total, nine families took part in this research. The results were analyzed from the recorded videos during the activity and interview afterward. The results showed that the improvement of perceiving relevance was not obvious, which might be caused by the bias of the participants who had already highly perceived relevance of science. Moreover, the participants had learned science by being aware of the principles lying behind those exhibits. Compared to earlier research about narrative reflection, adding verbal instruction may improve learning efficacy. Additionally, this narrative reflection activity brought a new approach to teaching daily science for many parents in the research. Bigger scale research with a digital narrative reflection is recommended for future research.