Smartphones and parent-child conversations during young children's informal science learning at an aquarium

Aquariums are unique informal learning environments where families talk about science content and processes and learn about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This study explored family smartphone use during informal science learning at an aquarium in relation to parents' self-reported engagement and parent-child science talk. Children (N = 204; 103 girls; Mage = 70.91 months) and their parents were grouped based on whether they chose to use a smartphone in an aquarium exhibit. A survey asked parents to report family demographics as well as whether the family used a smartphone and whether the parent engaged in off-topic talk while in the exhibit. Researchers also observed smartphone use and audio-recorded conversations with a subsample (N = 50 dyads) while they explored an exhibit in the aquarium. Verbatim conversation transcripts were coded for talk about science and about the smartphone. Results showed parents who chose to use a smartphone during informal learning were more likely to report off-topic talk compared to parents who did not use a smartphone. Parents’ smartphone use did not predict the parent or child science talk during informal learning conversations, but smartphone talk at times outweighed science talk within the micro-interactions of families who were preoccupied with their smartphones. Nevertheless, some dyads used their smartphones in ways that promoted science learning. Smartphone use may distract parents during informal learning when parents are preoccupied with the device, but when leveraged for learning, smartphones may offer opportunities to extend science learning during and beyond the aquarium. •Our multi-method study explored variations in parent-child informal science conversations by smartphone use.•204 parents self-reported their off-topic talk, and we coded science talk and smartphone talk with an observed subsample.•While smartphone talk at times outweighed science talk, some dyads used smartphone photos to count, label, and compare.•Thus, the negative effects of smartphones may be mitigated if used to facilitate family informal science learning.