This is a descriptive quantitative study of public-school-owned and operated planetarium facilities across the United States. A random sample of 210 planetarium directors was selected, and 131 were used in the data analysis to benchmark current practices involving public school planetaria in five domains: (1) the job of planetarium director, (2) the curriculum used in public school planetaria, (3) the organization of the planetarium, (4) the facility, and (5) the directors. Data were collected over a 10-week period in the spring of 1999 with a mail survey containing 72 questions. Frequency counts, percentages, means, and standard deviations were used to report the descriptive data. Results and conclusions are organized around each of the five domains. The major conclusion is that planetaria in the nation's public school systems are not in the educational mainstream as much as they were 20 years ago. Although some facilities appear to be well maintained and have added automation and new video equipment, a majority of the facilities are not properly maintained or supported by school administrators. / Ed. D.

This dissertation proposes an initial framework for designing and presenting exhibits in science centers and to recommend methods for improving the educational role of planetariums in science centers.

Starting with a group of lightning researchers, planetarium staff, and visualization specialists, an academically diverse group was formed through a grant from the National Science Foundation to develop a planetarium show on lightning. The show target audience is middle school aged children. The goal of the show is to teach lightning safety and lightning facts in an immersive environment. Through the use of video, an animated character, and a meteorologist, the curriculum is presented to the audience. I fulfilled the roles of producer and director through all aspects of production. My role also included maintaining group organization and communication throughout show production. This paper discusses my experiences in producing Enlightening Lightning! by starting with outlining the curriculum and finishing with putting it all together at the planetarium. The goal of this paper is to discuss the techniques and organizational methods used to manage a diverse group and produce a multimedia show.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Lehigh University, 2005. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 261-275).

Uniview är mjukvara som främst används som presentations- och visualiseringsverktyg vid pla- netarium. För att utforska nya användningsområden av Uniview vill man på Sciss integrera sin mjukvara med headsets för virtuell verklighet. Den här studien redogör för de metoder och verk- tyg som användes i utvecklingen av en prototyp, vars syfte är att visa om detta är en eftersträvans- värd tillämpning av planetariemjukvaran.Prototypen byggdes i spelmotorn Unity och är ett exempel på flitigt återanvändande av kod och mjukvara, till exempel användes ramverket Spout för att överföra bildinformation från Uniview. För att göra prototypen utfördes en snabb kravspecifikation bestående av målgruppsidentifiering, val av funktioner och formgivning. En genomförbarhetsstudie gjordes för att bestämma vilka tek- nologier som skulle användas i implementationen. Prototypen implementerades sedan enligt ob- jektorienterade designprinciper och mönster.Användningstestning av den producerade prototypen indikerade att virtuell verklighet hade pot- ential som användningsområde för Uniview. / Uniview is a software primarily used as a presentation and visualisation tool at planetariums. To explore new ways to make use of Uniview, Sciss wants to integrate their software with head mounted displays for virtual reality. This study describes the methods and tools used to develop a prototype with the purpose of exploring if this is a worthwhile application of the planetarium software.The prototype was built in the game engine Unity and is an example of industrious reuse of code and software, for example the framework Spout was used to transfer images from Uniview. The prototype went through a short process of requirements specification with identification of target audience, choice of functionality and layout design. A feasibility study was done in order to find out what technologies should be used in the implementation. The prototype was then implemen- ted according to object-oriented design principles and patterns.User testing of the produced prototype indicated that virtual reality had potential as an applicat- ion scope for Uniview.

The purpose of this study was to investigate pupils’ knowledge about science and what role science center is playing as a medium of communication to increase knowledge among students. This study also tried to find out pupils’ interaction: how they use science center as a source of scientific information, what they learn from their visit to a science center, their pattern of communication with it. This project also measured attraction, holding and learning power of exhibits of the science center at Dalarna University in Borlänge and learning power of planetarium program and slide show of Stella Nova Planetarium at Dalarna University.The subjects of this study consisted of students of class seven and eight and teachers of an urban school in Borlänge, Sweden. To find out students’ learning in a science center a pre and post visit test were conducted through questionnaires. Interview method by questionnaires was also used to explore pupils’ interaction with science center.The results of this study show that students learn by their visit to a science center but learning was not statistically significant (0.05).Girls learnt better than boys. School classes that have better pre-knowledge about science before a visit to a science center learnt worse than other classes having less pre-knowledge. Girls and boys interact with a science center in different ways. Science center is playing important role as a science communicator.

The problem of this study was to measure the effects of differing curricular patterns involving the use of planetarium centered activities on the affective domain of high-,middle-, and low-achieving secondary school students. Two different curricular patterns were studied. At each achievement level, one group viewed two planetarium lessons in conjunction with their classroom work in astronomy. Also, at each achievement level, two groups viewed the planetarium lessons as review activities which followed their completion of classroom work in astronomy earlier in the school year. The following conclusions were made with respect to the planetarium-related curricula studied. 1. Two exposures to planetarium lessons as a review activity caused a significant decline in the attitude toward astronomy among high-achieving students. 2. Two exposures to planetarium lessons did not significantly improve students' attitudes toward astronomy at any achievement level or with either curricular pattern studied. 3. Middle- and low-achieving students' attitudes were not significantly affected by two exposures to the planetarium lessons. Varying the manner of employing the planetarium in relation to classroom work in astronomy, in the manner studied, made no significant differences in the attitudes of students at either of these achievement levels.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-08T16:35:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 123545.pdf: 2511659 bytes, checksum: cfc2eb7606567795929d5757b457fe19 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-08-12 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Astronomy is a field of science in constant association with the arts, poetry, literature and education. It arouses curiosity and enchantment and is responsible for many scientific and technological advances. The school is also immersed in this sphere of knowledge, through curricula, textbooks and / or teaching initiative. In this bias, this qualitative research aims to identify the pedagogical situations where the Planetarium is characterized as a mediator or as an intermediary in the teaching and learning of astronomy, in the perspective of teachers in the early years of elementary school. For this, we use the methodological and theoretical perspective of Actor-Network Theory (ANT) by Bruno Latour. Initially we conducted a theoretical review of the main concepts of ANT and analysis of official documents of education that regulate the astronomy education in Brazil. And next, we analyzed 97 questionnaires filled by teachers who visited the Planetarium of the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina - UFSC, with students in 2014. And as a last empirical step, five teachers were selected for in-depth interviews. The results indicated that for teachers using the Planetarium in addition to the teaching of astronomy or even field trip, this space makes up a mediator of the process of teaching and learning, both for students and for teachers themselves. And in these situations, the teacher assumes the role of intermediary of the actions effected by the students. / A astronomia é um campo da ciência em constante associação com as artes, a poesia, a literatura e a educação. Desperta curiosidade e encantamento e é responsável por muitos avanços científicos e tecnológicos. A escola também está imersa nesta esfera de conhecimento, por meio dos currículos, livros didáticos e/ou iniciativa docente. Neste viés, esta pesquisa de natureza qualitativa tem o objetivo de identificar as situações pedagógicas em que o Planetário se caracteriza como mediador ou como intermediário nos processos de ensinar e de aprender astronomia de professores dos anos iniciais do ensino fundamental. Para isso, utilizamos a perspectiva teórica e metodológica da Teoria Ator-Rede (TAR) de Bruno Latour. Inicialmente realizamos uma revisão teórica sobre os principais conceitos da TAR e análise dos documentos oficiais da educação que normatizam o ensino de astronomia no Brasil. A seguir, foram analisados 97 questionários respondidos por professores que visitaram o Planetário da Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina UFSC, com estudantes, em 2014. E como última etapa empírica, foram selecionados cinco professores para a realização de entrevistas em profundidade. Os resultados indicaram que para os professores que utilizam o Planetário como complemento para o ensino de astronomia ou mesmo para saída de campo, este espaço se constitui em mediador do processo de ensinar e de aprender, tanto para os estudantes quanto para os próprios professores. E, nestas situações, o professor assume o papel de intermediário das ações efetivadas pelos estudantes.

The design of several variants of the structure of the planetarium in Brno is the subject of the diploma thesis . The building has a ground plan size of 30x30 meters. The main supporting material is S235 steel. The bearing structure of the object consists of columns, joists and beams. The bearing structure of the dome consists of a spatial structure, which is formed as a half-globe above the diameter of 18 meters. 3 versions of this dome have been processed. The resulting design is Geodetic Dome. Part of the work is an assessment of the main structural elements and selected details. The Scia engineer 2016 version 16.1.3033 was used to calculate internal forces.

The main goal of this work is to apprise readers with one part of our national cultural heritage which is exposed at the National Technical Museum in Prague in the astronomy exposition. This heritage is the planetarium from P. Engelbert Seige from 1791. The first chapter endeavours to delineate under what circumstances the planetarium was originated, and it also includes the life of its creator Engelbert Seige and the history of the Ossegg monastery, where Seige lived and worked. The second chapter is devoted to a detailed description of the astronomical functions of the planetarium and a description of its dials and mechanisms, including pictorial documentation. In the third chapter is briefly described the development of time measurement and clock production, as well as contemporary watchmaking and scientific advances and discoveries. It also describes some contemporary clockworks of other watchmaking masters, namely Jan Klein, Eise Eisinga and Philipp Matthäus Hahn, again including their pictorial documentation. The fourth chapter describes other, but unfinished models of Engelbert Seige.