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Learning Science Through Enacted Astronomy

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Abstract

The Human Orrery is a representation of the Solar System at a human scale, on which positions of planets over time are symbolized by different discs. Learners can then walk along the orbits of the planets with the right pace. This pedagogical tool uses the principles of enacted cognition to promote a better understanding of the scientific laws of dynamics. Enaction assumes that cognition is based on action. Applied to pedagogy, it implies that learning of concepts must be based on gestures and perceptions first. I applied during 2 years an enacted pedagogical sequence using our Human Orrery to different populations of learners. The main purpose was the understanding of velocity and inertia by KS4 classes (14–16 years old). Interviews and closed questions reveal a qualitative enhancement of the motivation and well-being of the learners during the enacted sequence. To evaluate further the impact of the enacted sequence, I formulated 2 open questions. The first one concerns the relation between distance, duration, and velocity through the period of planets. The second one focuses on inertia and gravity through the comparison of the free fall of an apple on Earth and the orbit of the Moon around Earth. The questions were asked to KS4 pupils after the enacted sequence (experimental classes) and to KS4, undergraduate and pre-teachers after a classical lecture on dynamics (demonstration classes). Quantitative analysis of the answers reveals specific cognitive insight, especially for students reasoning about velocity and trajectories. The general purpose of this paper is thus to illustrate the use of the Human Orrery in the context of science education in the classroom and to make a first, preliminary demonstration of its efficiency.

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Notes

  1. NASA web site: https://kepler.nasa.gov/multimedia/animations/orrery3/, or the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, http://www.astrosociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/uitc82.pdf

    Web site of the project : http://www.planetaire.overblog.com

  2. The Fisher’s exact test were computed with the software R, using the p value returned by the routine “Fisher.test”

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Acknowledgements

Part of this project was supported through the IDEX “Apprentissage en mouvement” of the ComUE Sorbonne Universités, in particular the funding of the Human Orrery. Emmanuel Rollinde is a member of the French project F-HOU, within the European network EU-HOU (http://www.eu-hou.net). I thank particularly Mme Richard (Lycée Condorcet, Paris) who has given me the opportunity to organize sequences with her students regularly. I thank her students, and all teachers and students who have worked with me on the Human Orrery or answered the questionnaire as “demonstration class”. I thank deeply Pr Glenberg and Johnson-Glenberg for fruitful discussions and their contribution to my understanding of enaction, through discussion and reading of their papers.

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  1. Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris, UMR 7095 Sorbonne Universités, Université Pierre et Marie Curie – CNRS, 98bis boulevard Arago, 75014, Paris, France

    E. Rollinde

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Rollinde, E. Learning Science Through Enacted Astronomy. Int J of Sci and Math Educ 17, 237–252 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-017-9865-8

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