Abstract:

The aim of this research was to investigate how the use of visualisation techniques can enhance the development and use of effective mental models in the context of astronomy education in primary school.

Astronomy is a topic that fascinates children and poses didactical challenges at the same time. In fact, many astronomical systems cannot be directly experienced by the children and therefore need to be explored by means of models (mental, physical, graphical, etc.). Rough versions of these models are often possessed by children even before they start formal education.

While children spontaneously rely on imagination as a cognitive resource, mental images are seldom used explicitly by the teacher as a tool for learning, particularly in the field of science. Even less often the ability of constructing and using mental images is specifically ‘trained’ in order to make this models richer and more accurate.

In this work, we applied research results on the use of visualisation techniques for the development of mental models to the design of a didactic unit on the Solar System. Using models is particularly necessary for addressing this topic, where children cannot rely on direct observation of most of the objects composing the system. Particular challenges for the construction of these models come from the complexity of the content (size and distance of the objects involved, multiple relationships) and from the difficulty of representing all the aspects of the system simultaneously. In fact, research has shown that children possess different models of the Solar System with varying levels of correctness, coherence and accuracy.

To address our research question we adopted a quasi-experimental design involving two fifth-grade classrooms, one of which represented the experimental group while the other one was the control group. The didactic units in the two classrooms were designed so that the use of visualisation techniques was the only difference between the two groups and the interventions were conducted by the same teacher. The chosen visualisation techniques included in particular eyes-closed visualisation and the enhancement of mental images by means of Visual, Acoustic and Kinaesthetic (VAK) data.

Two instruments were used to collect the data: a semi-structured interview in the pre-test phase and an open-ended questionnaire at the end of the intervention containing the same questions. Included in the interview and questionnaire was the request of a graphical (pre-test) and physical (post-test) representation of the Solar System, in order to gather information about the mental model used by each child at each phase.

The analysis of the collected data showed a positive increase in both classes for what concerns knowledge about the Solar System, while the results suggest that the technique used in the experimental group helped to strengthen the reference to models closer to the scientific ones.

Keywords:

Mental models, visualisation, solar system, astronomy, primary school.