Stargazing Live!: Inspiring with semi-live astronomy data; teaching curriculum topics using smart education tools

Abstract

Stargazing Live! aims to capture the imagination of learners with a combination of live and interactive planetarium lessons, real astronomical data, and lessons built around interactive knowledge representations. The lessons were created using a co-creation model and tackle concepts in the pre-university (astro)physics which students find difficult to grasp with traditional interventions. An evaluation study in 9 Dutch classrooms showed that learners are inspired and engaged by the planetarium lessons but are not always able to link the content to the classroom. Pre- and post-tests showed that the accompanying star properties activity significantly increased learners’ understanding of the causal relationships between mass and other properties (such as luminosity, gravity, and temperature) in a main sequence star.