The night skies and the planet on which we live can be inspirational to young and old alike. In the run up to its 200th anniversary in 2020, the U.K.'s Royal Astronomical Society has put together a £1 million scheme to fund outreach and engagement activities for groups that are less well served in terms of access to astronomy and geophysics. This article outlines the projects funded and the impact they are starting to have.
Science centers such as museums and planetariums have used stereoscopic (“three-dimensional”) films to draw interest from and educate their visitors for decades. Despite the fact that most adults who are finished with their formal education get their science knowledge from such free-choice learning settings very little is known about the effect of stereoscopic film presentation on their science learning. We explored this issue by designing a quasi-experimental field trial with a short film about the shape of the Milky Way galaxy. The film was produced based on a set of stereoscopic design
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Aaron PriceHee-Sun LeeMark SubbaRaoEvan KasalJulieta Aguilera
An effective communication of astronomy cannot take place without considering the view the general public has on the universe. Through a number of narrative interviews with non-experts, a research was carried out on personal cosmologies, to outline the public’s heterogeneous astronomical imagery. The result is a bundle of conceptions, perceptions and attitudes which are useful to interpret the difficulties the public experiences when facing the contents of astrophysics, and to establish an ongoing dialogue.
Technology has dramatically changed learning opportunities in planetaria. In this paper, Plummer and Small examine planetarium professionals’ goals for their audiences and their pedagogical choices. The findings indicate that planetarium professionals place a high value on teaching interactively to achieve their primary goal of increased science interest and learning.
We examined the durability of students’ understanding of lunar phenomena one year after a combination of planetarium and classroom lessons. Children (N=16) were interviewed before and after instruction during Year 1 and then again one year later. Analysis of the interview results and instruction reveals that many students retained an understanding of some of the key constructs targeted in the program. Results also suggest that students were more likely to learn and remember challenging constructs that they actively engaged with in both the planetarium and the classroom.
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Pennsylvania State UniversityJulia PlummerArcadia University
The field of museum education has advanced and adapted over the years to meet the changing needs of audiences as determined by new research, national policy, and international events. Educators from Chicago's Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum provide insight into a (somewhat) typical museum education department, especially geared for readers who are outside the realm of museum education and who may be unfamiliar with expectations placed on educators. Finally, the authors suggest areas of focus that should be targeted by museum educators for them to remain current in a rapidly evolving field
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Erin DragottoChristine MinervaMichelle Nicholas
The National Science Education Standards [National Research Council (1996) National science education standards. Washington, DC: National Academy Press] recommend that students understand the apparent patterns of motion of the sun, moon and stars by the end of early elementary school. However, little information exists on students’ ability to learn these concepts. This study examines the change in students’ understanding of apparent celestial motion after attending a planetarium program using kinesthetic learning techniques. Pre- and post-interviews were conducted with participants from seven
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Pennsylvania State UniversityJulia Plummer
The effect of humor on retention of information was examined. The planetarium at COSI, Ohio's Center of Science & Industry in Columbus, was the source of the study. General public museum visitors were the subjects. A total of 495 adult subjects, ages 18 and older, were involved. Subjects were presented with one of two versions of a 15-minute taped general astronomy show. The two versions were identical except that one had humorous inserts. The humor in the humorous version was related to and integrated with the educational material and was presented at a fast pace. Humor was placed every 90
As we turn more and more to high-end computing to understand the Universe at cosmological scales, dynamic visualizations of simulations will take on a vital role as perceptual and cognitive tools. In collaboration with the Adler Planetarium and University of California High-Performance AstroComputing Center (UC-HiPACC), I am interested in better understanding the use of visualizations to mediate astronomy learning across formal and informal settings. In this research, I use quantitative methods to investigate how 122 post-secondary learners are relying on color to interpret dark matter in a
Over the last decade, hundreds of planetariums worldwide have adopted digital “fulldome” projection as their primary projection and presentation medium. This trend has far-reaching potential for science centers. Digital planetarium capabilities extend educational and cultural programming far beyond night-sky astronomy. These “digital domes” are, in essence, immersive visualization environments capable of supporting art and live performances and reproducing archeological sites, as well as journeying audiences through the local cluster of galaxies. Their real-time and rapid-update capabilities
The Houston Museum of Natural Science, in collaboration with Rice University has an outreach program taking portable digital theaters to schools and community sites for over five years and has conducted research on student learning in this immersive environment. By using an external independent evaluator, the effectiveness of NASA-funded Education and Public Outreach (EPO) projects can be assessed. This paper documents interactive techniques and learning strategies in full-dome digital theaters. The presentation is divided into Evaluation Strategies and Results and Interactivity Strategies and
In this study, the instructional effectiveness of the planetarium in astronomy education was explored through a meta-analysis of 19 studies. This analysis resulted in a heterogeneous distribution of 24 effect sizes with a mean of +0.28, p<.05. The variability in this distribution was not fully explained under a fixed effect model. As a result, a random effects model was applied. However, a large random effect variance component indicated that study differences were indeed systematic. The findings of this meta-analysis showed that the planetarium has been an effective astronomical teaching tool