| Abstract | The purpose of this qualitative case study research was to understand the experiences of preservice teachers who participated in a live-interactive portable planetarium program that used a simulated immersive visual environment. To that end, the study used a Deweyan theoretical framework to specifically look at the ways preservice teachers participated in and interacted with the planetarium; how they described their experiences; what connections to outside events or experiences could they make after participating in the program; and in what ways were their experiences were educative, miseducative, or noneducative. Data collection methods included a pre-questionnaire, video recording of the planetarium program, written participant reflection responses, and interview questions. The findings showed that students interacted with the planetarium program in a variety of ways, including through questioning, kinesthetic activity, observation, making predictions, choosing the focus of content, and social communications with peers. Participant descriptions of their experiences included comments regarding novelty, technology, visuals, and physical space. The connections participants made between the planetarium lesson and outside events and experiences were largely unique to each person, and included personal family connections, real world observations, remembering related scenes from a movie, prior visits to planetariums, and classroom exposure. The data showed that the majority of experiences were educative, and were related to astronomy content, interactive activities, personal observations, sharing information, environmental responsibility, and future teaching practices. Some examples of miseducative experiences related to astronomy content emerged from the data, and there were no examples of noneducative experiences. The findings have implications for preservice teacher education and planetarium education communities. |
