Modification of a school program in the German Museum to enhance students' attitudes and understanding

Abstract

The study examines the nature, conditions and outcomes of student learning from an organized guided tour in the German Museum in Munich. The instructional methods that best support student cognitive and affective learning were investigated as well as how students' motivational and emotional states influence their achievement. A sample of 96 secondary school students took part in two different versions of a guided tour on an energy topic. The tours varied in the degree of support of student's active involvement, group work and the variety of general activities offered during the tour. The data collected indicate that both tour versions led to an increase in student understanding of the visit topic to nearly the same extent. However, the version stimulating students' active participation, group work and including a larger variety of activities aroused more positive attitudes. Students of the modified school program showed higher interest and intrinsic motivation, felt more competent and were less bored after the guided tour. In addition, the results suggest that students' visit-related emotional states predict the degree of their post-visit topic understanding, even when demographics and prior knowledge are taken into consideration.