| The scientific literature has shown that an interest in science can emerge at the preschool level, and that the pleasures of being engaged with science can be nurtured further through play, interactive activities and field trips to science museums. A museum offers an entertaining environment that lends itself to discovery and allows visitors to deepen their understanding of scientific ideas."The Eel Squad", an activity at the Montreal Biosphere that aims at awakening children's interest and sense of wonder regarding the natural aquatic habitat and its relationship with humanity, served as an experimental framework. The sample consisted of fifty-one children from two Montreal elementary schools, one "privileged" and the other "disadvantaged". Comparison of an experimental group and a control group, one pre-test and two post-test, reveals cognitive and affective results. Data collection entailed interviews with children, evidence from videos and field notes of participant observation, and interviews with teachers. This triangulation of data collection sources minimized the potential biases, while allowing better validation of the results. The combined use of quantitative and qualitative analysis methods thus corroborated the research conclusions and led to a more thorough and nuanced knowledge of the phenomenon under study.The results show that preschool children can benefit from an important and positive learning experience in a science museum. More precisely, this museum visit had a significant positive impact on the children's comprehension of scientific phenomena, and to a lesser extent, on their scientific knowledge and their attitude regarding the museum and science. The changes were observed in light of constructivist and socioconstructivist models, which prove appropriate for exploring the learning process of preschoolers in a science museum context.Keywords: Museum, science, constructivism, socioconstructivism, preschool education, knowledge, comprehension, attitude.There is little research on what preschool children learn in museums. This educational study explores how children learn science in a museum context. More specifically, the study examines change in terms of children's knowledge, understanding and attitudes towards the museum and science. The findings may have useful implications for collaboration between schools and museums to benefit children. |
