The Planetarium Versus the Classroom�An Inquiry into Earlier Implications
George Reed
West Chester State College, West Chester, Pennsylvania 19380
INTRODUCTION TO PROBLEM
Earlier Research has implied that:
1. A planetarium should be incorporated into a laboratory or classroom facility.The planetarium should not be used solely as a celestial demonstration chamber.
2. The planetarium teaching situation should be used in conjunction with thechalkboard-globe teaching situation. The combined teaching situations shouldprovide the optimum learning situation.3
This paper is a report of an attempt to experimentally evaluatethe above implications. The reference cited contains an introductionto the background of the problem and a discussion of the study thatlead to the above implications.The formal research problem of this study was:
Is the planetarium, when used in combination with a celestial globe and classroomchalkboard, a more effective teaching situation than the celestial globe and classroomchalkboard teaching situation in the teaching of selected astronomical concepts interms of the immediate attainment and retention of specified cognitive behavioralobjectives and the attainment of specified affective behavioral objectives?
The null hypotheses were:
1. There is no difference in the attainment of the cognitive behavioral objectivesbetween the two teaching situations as measured by the Selected AstronomicalPrinciples Test, Part II.
2. There is no difference in the attainment of the affective behavioral objectivesbetween the two teaching situations as measured by the Selected AstronomicalPrinciples Test, Part II.
The planetarium/celestial globe/chalkboard teaching situation wascompared to the celestial globe and the classroom chalkboard teachingsituation in the teaching of specified astronomical concepts concernedwith the celestial sphere and precession. The Astronomical PrinciplesTest, Part II, was a valid and reliable instrument concerned withspecified cognitive and affective behavioral objectives pertaining toconcepts of the celestial sphere and precession.
METHODOLOGY
The research design was the Posttest-Only Control Group designwith the Randomized-Group technique. One group was presented with
1. Reed, George and Campbell, James Reed. "A Comparison of the Effectiveness of the Planetarium andthe Classroom Chalkboard and Celestial Globe in the Teaching of Specific Astronomical Concepts." School Scienceand Mathematics.
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a classroom chalkboard and celestial globe learning situation. Thesame presentation was given at four different times to a total ofeighty-two randomly selected subjects.The other group was presented with a planetarium learning situation
that also used a classroom chalkboard and celestial globe. This madeit necessary to raise and lower the lights several times during thepresentation. The same presentation was given at four different timesto a total of seventy-seven randomly selected students.The Posttest-Only Control Group Design was modified by substitut-
ing the classroom chalkboard and celestial globe learning situationfor the control group. The Selected Astronomical Principles Test,Part II, which served as the posttest, was administered to a randomlyselected part of each group immediately following the treatment andto the other part of each group after an interval of eight weeks.The eight week testing was an attempt to measure retention.The subjects consisted of approximately one half of the population
of West Chester State College students enrolled in a one semesterphysical science course during the fall semester of 1970. The subjectswere randomly selected for participation in the study. One hundredsixty-four students were initially involved, but only one hundredfifty-nine subjects were tested due to attrition. The majority of thesubjects were freshmen in diversified programs of study.
All the instruction in the planetarium and chalkboard-globe learningsituations was given by the investigator. This was the only contactbetween the subjects and the investigator during the study.The results of the cognitive behavioral objectives were analyzed
by use of the student’s t distribution and the t ratio. Tests weremade for significant differences (5% level) between the means ofthe two groups as measured immediately following the presentationsand after a period of eight weeks.The affective domain behavioral objective answers were tabulated
as frequencies and expressed as proportions. Differences betweenthe groups were indicated by a direct visual comparison.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The results of the study do not support the existance of a significantdifference between the two learning situations in the attainment andretention of cognitive knowledge. The first null hypothesis must beaccepted. Table I summarizes the results in the cognitive domain.
Earlier research has supported the existence of a significant dif-ference between the chalkboard-globe learning situation and theplanetarium (without the use of a chalkboard and globe) learning
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TABLE I: ATTAINMENT AND RETENTION OF COGNITIVE KNOWLEDGE
Immediate Testing Eight Week Testing
Chalkboard-GlobeMeanS.D.
Planetarium andChalkboard-GlobeMeanS.D.
t RatioLevel of Significance
10.88.82.82.9
10.18.13.12.71.11.0.30.25
situation.2 The chalkboard-globe learning situation was identified asthe more effective learning situation with respect to the immediateattainment and retention of cognitive knowledge. This study wouldseem to validate the two implications drawn from the above mentionedresearch. The planetarium, in order to be used effectively, shouldbe used as a simulation device in a classroom teaching-learningsituation. It should not be used simply as a "dark" classroom. Thoseaspects of teaching and learning that have been identified as effectiveand desirable in the normal classroom situation should also be appliedto the planetarium situation. The planetarium should be considereda classroom rather than a celestial demonstration chamber. Too oftenastronomy is taught as a means to use the planetarium. The planetariumshould be used as a means to assist in the teaching of astronomy.An analysis of the affective behavioral objectives showed large
similarities and few differences between the two learning situations.The analysis would require that the second null hypothesis be accepted.The affective domain results were limited by the amount of dataobtainable from the Selected Astronomical Principles Test.The cognitive results are in direct contrast to the numerous unsub-
stantiated claims by educators and planetarium directors. The pre-viously untested declarations concerning the planetarium’s ability topromote cognitive learning immediately and in terms of retention havenot been supported. The conclusion of this study is that the planetariumis most effective when it is used as a classroom learning situation.It is suggested, however, that the real value of the planetarium maylie in the affective domain and that is where future research shouldbe directed.
2. Ibid.
