The Influence Of Parents' Metacognitive Knowledge On Parent-Child Interactions In Science Museums

Metacognition theory has been widely discussed since it was proposed,and with its characteristics of autonomy and initiative,it has been widely used in the field of formal education,yet rarely involved in informal learning environments.At the same time,metacognition knowledge plays a significant role in science learning.However,limited research pays attention to the influence of parents' metacognition knowledge on parent-child visitors' experience in museums.This study based on the exhibition of"Electric Dragon" in Zhejiang Science and Technology Museum,conducted direct observation,video and audio recording and semi-structured interviews to investigate the visit experience of 42 pairs of parent-child visitors,of which children aged 4-9.The research aims to explore whether parents have procedural and conditional knowledge on their own and children's leaning and how such knowledge influences the parent-child interaction.The results have showed that:(1)most of the parents visiting science museums have metacognitive knowledge about their own and their children;(2)there is a great dissimilarity between each parent's metacognitive knowledge on their children,but similarity between their metacognitive knowledge on their own;(3)parents' metacognitive knowledge has influenced parent-child interactions,and most of the parents interact with their children in a way,which they think is appropriate for children's learning at the present stage according to their metacognitive knowledge.