Abstract

MASSARANI, Luisa et al. From interaction to engagement: A study of the experience of visiting teenagers at the “Explora” exhibition at the Pavilhão do Conhecimento, in Lisbon. Rev. Port. de Educação [online]. 2022, vol.35, n.2, pp.167-189.  Epub Nov 03, 2021. ISSN 0871-9187.  https://doi.org/10.21814/rpe.21557.

In this study, we aimed to understand how adolescents interact and engage in an interactive science exhibition and the learning experiences provided by the visit. Five groups of teenagers between 14 and 17 years old participated in the study, visiting, outside the school context, the long-term exhibition “Explora”, from the Pavilhão do Conhecimento – Centro Ciência Viva, in Lisbon (Portugal). The investigation is characterized by a case study combined with a quantitative and qualitative approach. The audiovisual records of the visits were analyzed with a protocol that combines theoretical and empirical aspects of the experience of visiting science centers. The results indicate that interactions and engagement were present, especially in episodes in which adolescents actively interact with the exhibition, with each other, and when they talk about how the exhibition works. It is also observed that there are initial conditions of interaction, which encouraged the cognitive engagement of young people by supporting the construction of meaning or the formation of some type of connection with the contents covered in the exhibition.

Keywords : Science museum; Interactive exhibitions; Young people.

        · abstract in Portuguese | Spanish     · text in Portuguese     · Portuguese ( pdf )