Can 3D Visualization Assist in Young Children’s Understanding of Sun-Earth-Moon System?

Abstract

This research-in-progress investigates how the usage of technology, specifically three dimensional (3D) stereoscopic vision, might support astronomy learning in primary grades. 3D stereoscopic vision might be an effective means to observe the relationships among space objects through simulations. In order to explore this presumption, this pilot study examines how 3D stereoscopic vision might enhance urban second graders’ understanding of (a) the shape of Sun, Moon, and Earth, (b) how day and night alternate, and (c) how Moon appears in different shapes. Currently, Indiana state standards for science do not suggest the teaching of these astronomical concepts explicitly before fourth grade. The authors project that students can learn these concepts earlier in their educational lives with the implementation of these new technologies. These technologies might challenge the views of when astronomical concepts could be taught to children and expand the ways the authors think about children’s cognitive capacities in understanding scientific concepts.