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Impact of Observatory Visitor Centres on the Public's Understanding of Astronomy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 March 2013

Kimberly Burtnyk
Kimberly Burtnyk*
Affiliation:
California Science Centre, 700 State Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90037, USA
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Abstract

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In recent years, formal astronomy education has become an issue of great interest. Indeed, some boards of education now officially include astronomy in their curricula. While formal astronomy education continues to gain attention, informal astronomy education for the general public has rarely been addressed. One valuable source of informal astronomy education is the observatory ‘visitor centre’. Observatories draw thousands of visitors each year, and as such represent a golden opportunity for the astronomical community to communicate directly with the public. This paper summarises an exploratory study of the cognitive and affective impacts of a visit to the visitor centres located at Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories.

Keywords

astronomy educationobservatory visitor centresinformal education
Type
Research Article
Information
Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia , Volume 17 , Issue 3 , 2000 , pp. 275 - 281
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of Australia 2000

References

Burtnyk, K. 2000, On-site insights: Visitor impressions of astronomy exhibits at observatory visitor centres. Master's thesis. Australian National University, CanberraGoogle Scholar
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Perry, D. L. 1993, Beyond cognition and affect: The anatomy of a museum visit. Proc. Conf. on Visitors Studies, ed. D. Thompson et al., Visitor Studies Association, Albuquerque, NM, Jacksonville, AL, pp. 43–7Google Scholar
Rennie, L., & McClafferty, T. 1996, ‘Science centres and science learning’ in Studies in Science Education, Vol. 27, ed. E. Jenkins & J. Donnelly, Centre for Studies in Science and Mathematics Education, University of Leeds, pp. 53–98 Google Scholar