From atoms to stars: an interactive theatre play based on ‘The Little Prince’ novella to describe spatial thinking

Abstract

Abstract The implementation of theatre as a didactic tool for teaching science provides a new perspective on the importance of interdisciplinary approaches in the construction of meaningful learning experiences. Gamification and collaborative work are functional strategies to teach scientific concepts in a creative way. However, there are still conceptual issues about spatial thinking that are difficult for students to understand owing to the lack of visualization of objects and their development through a characteristic chronicle. Here we show an innovative way to unifying science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) careers through the development of an interactive theatrical play inspired by The Little Prince novella, to promote a culture of integration of science, theatre and literature. One of the more significant findings to emerge from this study is that the didactic strategies used are key ingredients in order to design an unique theatre play based on a link between history of atomic models and literature towards full understanding of spatial macroscales and microscales thinking. Due to the successful in the qualitative assessment results, we are devising to continue exploring the use of these didactic strategies to achieve an integrated and greater impact on students’ learning processes.