Introduction. Families' visits to museums, aquariums, or other informal science institutions (ISIs) are shaped by their goals, expectations, and values. The purpose of ISI visits (i.e., entry agenda) can influence the activities families engage in and the ways they interact. Research shows that entry agendas affect conversation structure, visitor attention, and how knowledge is shared, ultimately shaping family learning outcomes (Ellenbogen, 2002; Falk & Dierking, 2000). Therefore, the current study examined the relationship between the purpose of family visits to an aquarium and the content and style of parent-child conversations.


Methods. The sample included 50 parent-child dyads (27 girls; age: M = 5.75 years, SD = 1.7) recruited at a Southern California aquarium. Families represented diverse racial/ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Researchers invited families to participate as they explored an aquarium exhibit and recorded consenting dyads' conversations using Bluetooth microphones. Subsequently, parents completed an electronic survey reporting family demographics and rating the purpose of their visit (educational/learning, recreational/fun, or relational/family time) on a 4-point Likert scale (1 = disagree to 4 = agree). Conversations were transcribed verbatim and coded for content (parent and child science talk) and parent conversational style (autonomy support vs. controlling) using pre-established coding systems (Author et al., 2020; Author, 2018).


Results and Conclusions. Preliminary findings showed that 96.6% of parents agreed their visit was recreational, 93.1% relational, and 72.4% educational. Parents' average autonomy support score was 0.30 (range: -12 to 36), and children averaged 12.56 utterances of science talk. Parents who agreed (vs. somewhat agreed/disagreed) their visit was educational were more controlling (M = 4.71 vs. -.05), had shorter conversations (M = 234.71 vs. 258.14 utterances), and their children used less science talk (M = 8.05 vs. 11.00 utterances). These findings suggest rigid educational agendas may reduce opportunities for meaningful, child-driven informal learning. Full analyses will be presented.