Motivationale aspekte von schulischen besuchen in naturwissenschaftlich- technischen museen

Museums are very popular for school excursions. One of their most important aims is to foster the visitors' interest for the presented topics. Especially with regard to natural science, it is important to question to what extent this learning environment can indeed foster students' learning motivation. The research presented here is based on the concept of situational interest. In two studies, the goals and the design of school museum visits as well as the impact of the design, the perceived support of basic needs, and the perceived content relevance for students' situational interest were investigated. For this purpose a postal survey of 227 teachers of natural science was conducted on their goals and design of school visits to museums. Furthermore, 344 pupils of grades 7 and 8 (14 classes) were surveyed in a written questionnaire regarding their situational interest during the visit and on aspects of the design of the visit. The results show the high relevance of motivational aspects for the use of museums as learning environments.