Interactive Computer Programs for Teaching Astronomy

Abstract

Astronomy is the most popular and oldest of all sciences and it has had profound influence on human thought. Unfortunately, astronomy does not find an appropriate place in our school-college syllabi. This may be due to the fact that teaching of astronomy encounters a large number of problems with regard to visualization and practical experiments. Popularization of astronomy depends heavily on a large variety of astronomical events, such as the arrival of comets, eclipses, supernovae, etc. Visualization of dynamics in several directions, wide variance of time scales, concepts of space, etc., create problems in teaching/learning processes in astronomy. Our world of human experience is limited to within a narrow frame, whereas in astronomy we speak of size, time, and temperature in gigantic scales. To bring all these parameters onto the human level, one has to think of effective teaching aids and the right type of techniques. We have been using a large number of tools in teaching astronomy, including star charts, globes, models, photographs, slides, etc. Microcomputers act as an effective medium in teaching astronomy. They can even replace most of the above mentioned teaching aids (Hunt, 1986; Marx and Szucs, 1985; Sparkes, 1986). A microcomputer can also act as a textbook, a blackboard, or even a planetarium. The computer acts also as a mediator between the student and the model of some real-life situation. The process of building and using models, called simulation, helps us to investigate systems that would otherwise be inaccessible. We have developed a set of software to teach basic concepts in astronomy, such as the solar system, constellations, and the physics of stars. We have explored the possibilities of making the software interactive, using the observed data so that a real life situation can be experienced by the users, just as for practical experiments.