Abstract
Abstract Astronomy education research is a growing field but the attention given to informal educational activities, such as telescope observations, museum visits or planetarium sessions, is still relatively scarce. In consequence, the area is poorly studied and understood. Addressing this gap, this present paper examines informal educational practices in an astronomical observatory through detailed analysis of a complete turn at the telescope by a small child, who is observing the Sun with the assistance of a guide. Using Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis this study investigates how this activity was produced in terms of structure and methods, the skills the participants have, and how the interaction between the visitor and the guide occurs. The study of these naturally occurring activities is done in-depth by the repeated inspection of video data, in order to identify the characteristics of the interaction, the organization of the talk and its implications as an educational event. The interactional nature of linguistic exchanges is highlighted; and the study of these activities reveals the practical methods used by guides and public. The present study contributes to our understanding of telescope observations as informal education activities; and shows the importance of research methods that are sensitive to naturally occurring events.
Highlights
Astronomy education research is a growing field of inquiry [1], and studies have shown that it is mainly focused on specific astronomic content and conceptions of students at school and university levels [1, 2]
Expertise and non-expertise are core issues in instructional and educational environments such as the one studied here. Both phenomena are visible in numerous accounts, but more than that, the fundamental pair expertise–non-expertise holds asymmetries in knowledge and asymmetries in perception [51], that educational events such as this seek to reduce
On one side we have the guide with the knowledge about the institution, the telescope manipulation and the astronomy phenomena
Summary
Astronomy education research is a growing field of inquiry [1], and studies have shown that it is mainly focused on specific astronomic content and conceptions of students at school and university levels [1, 2]. The informal education of astronomy - the activities conducted in museums, science centres, observatories etc, with some structure and planning and flexible, visitor-centred and collaborative [5] - is poorly studied [6, 7] and, in consequence, not widely understood. A widely conducted outreach activity in astronomy education, in museums, science centres, observatories, and star parties. It is an activity with great potential to promote “compelling learning” as it involves multi-sensorial interaction (listening, seeing, touching) associated with “sharper focus and more memorable experiences” [14] We conclude with some potential contributions that this study can offer to the field of astronomy education
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