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“Grilled is Better Than Fried Chicken.”: Exploring a Participant Model for Designing and Evaluating Children’s Museum Health-Related Cooking Classes

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How People Learn in Informal Science Environments

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Abstract

This explanatory single case study involved 22 children who completed a cooking class at a children’s museum in the southeast United States of America. We collected data with photo-elicitation and interviews. Children took photographs during the class, and we interviewed them about the photographs after the class. We used the data to develop a Participant Model for Health-Related Cooking Classes, which includes Health Promotion, Intermediate Health, and Social Outcomes. We found children described foods they associated with healthy eating, their ability to cook at home, a desire to eat healthier foods, prior knowledge of cooking, and family and school as a main source of information. The findings indicate health knowledge is sequential and constructed on previous knowledge. We provide suggestions for program development and evaluation, define the factors museums should address to advance learning about healthy eating. Defining program Goals that build on Awareness and Opportunities and formative assessment of the program can lead to achieving program goals.

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This work was supported by a grant from Columbus State University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fayetteville State University, Fayetteville, NC, USA

    Dawn Nguyen Truong

  2. Department of Teaching, Learning, and Conseling, Columbus State University, Columbus, GA, USA

    Patricia G. Patrick

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  1. Dawn Nguyen Truong
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Correspondence to Dawn Nguyen Truong .

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  1. Columbus State University, Columbus, GA, USA

    Patricia G. Patrick

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Truong, D.N., Patrick, P.G. (2023). “Grilled is Better Than Fried Chicken.”: Exploring a Participant Model for Designing and Evaluating Children’s Museum Health-Related Cooking Classes. In: Patrick, P.G. (eds) How People Learn in Informal Science Environments. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13291-9_23

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