Mieke De Cock

Research shows that many astronomical phenomena are difficult to grasp and to teach. As visualising the night sky is a main goal of a planetarium, it might be a powerful setting to enhance (student) learning of these concepts. Planetariums have a long history in supporting astronomy interest, but the impact of the planetarium visits on the effective learning is vastly unexplored and there are still many open questions about the role the unique visualisation possibilities in a dome can play in educating various kinds of audiences. INTERSTELLAR is an ambitious long-term interdisciplinary research programme on the learning in a planetarium. It is rooted in a unique collaboration between the Planetarium of Brussels and different research groups of the KU Leuven, which together comprise a wide range of expertise, from Physics Education Research (PER) over Cognitive and Educational Psychology to Astronomy and Astrophysics. INTERSTELLAR aims at designing a research-based learning environment for astronomical and astrophysical concepts by fully exploiting the unique visualisation possibilities of the Planetarium. Until now, very few planetariums worldwide offer such research-based learning environments to specific audiences as they mostly capitalise on the immersive nature of the displays and the engagement of the audience. The development of an astronomy education research programme for the Planetarium of Brussels would make it unique in Europe by providing carefully designed and tested educational programmes. In the presentation, we will present the aims and general research plan of this ambitious programme and touch upon the general research methodology.