Building an Understanding of Astronomical Sizes and Scales with WorldWide Telescope

智力价值：该项目正在创建、测试和分发新的课程材料，将世界望远镜（WWT）天文学可视化环境整合到本科通识天文学课程的动手实验项目中。新教材旨在解决和改变学生对宇宙大小、尺度和结构的误解。四项基于实验室的活动，i)视差测量和到附近恒星的距离，ii)光谱视差和到星团的距离，iii)球状星团和银河系的大小，iv)哈勃定律和大尺度结构的测量，让学生在一个具有真实天文数据的交互式三维可视化环境中研究天文学家测量宇宙距离的基本方法。这种对三维天文结构的多角度可视化比传统课程材料中静态的二维图表产生更直观的视图，它有可能改变学生对宇宙大小、规模和结构的理解。学生可以将自己对大小、比例和结构的概念与基于证据的地图进行比较，并为他们的天体环境建立更准确的心理模型。这些新的课程材料首先在巴克内尔大学应用于普通教育天文学课程，随后在合作机构进行测试。通过研究验证的概念清单和其他定性评估来衡量学生理解能力的提高。一旦课程材料被证明有效地减少了学生的误解，它们将与相关文档一起广泛地提供给天文学101教学社区。WWT是免费提供的，几乎可以在任何个人电脑上运行，因此许多机构的教师都可以使用开发的课程材料。更广泛的影响：大小、规模和结构的概念超出了STEM学科的主题界限。从核物理和原子物理的最小尺度，到地球地壳板块和断层的隐藏几何形状，再到我们宇宙的巨大尺度，学生们面临的挑战是想象和理解看不见的和难以接近的几何形状。虽然课程材料专门在天文学背景下处理这些问题，但它们为所有学科的学生提供了将看不见的实体形象化的机会，并基于对观测数据的科学解释，对难以接近的结构建立连贯的理解。三维可视化和空间推理技能已被证明不仅在STEM职业中，而且在不直接涉及科学和技术的职业中，对成功至关重要。对于非STEM专业的本科生来说，通识教育天文学课程可能会为他们提供唯一的三维空间可视化大学经历。该项目的课程活动为学生提供了在互动和学生驱动的直观环境中探索三维天文结构的机会。操作三维物体的练习大大提高了空间推理技能，提高了学生在复杂的三维物体上创建准确的心理地图的能力。该项目将强大的空间可视化软件引入本科通识教育课堂，帮助非理科生在形成更准确的自然环境地图的同时培养空间推理能力。

Intellectual merit: The project is creating, testing, and distributing new curricular materials to integrate the WorldWide Telescope (WWT) astronomy visualization environment into the hands-on laboratory programs in undergraduate general education astronomy courses. The new material is designed to address and alter student misconceptions regarding size, scale, and structure in the universe. The four lab-based activities, i) Parallax Measurements and the Distances to Nearby Stars, ii) Spectroscopic Parallax and the Distance to Star Clusters, iii) Globular Clusters and the Size of the Milky Way Galaxy, and iv) The Hubble Law and Measures of Large-Scale Structure, allow students to investigate the essential ways astronomers measure distance in our universe in an interactive 3-D visualization environment with real astronomical data. This multi-perspective visualization of inherently 3-D astronomical structures produces a much more intuitive view than can static 2-D diagrams in traditional curricular materials, and it has the potential to transform student understanding of size, scale, and structure in the universe. Students can compare their own conceptions of size, scale, and structure with evidence-based maps, and develop a more accurate mental model for their celestial surroundings. These new curricular materials are being tested through application in general education astronomy courses first at Bucknell University and subsequently at partner institutions. Gains in student understanding are being measured using research-validated concept inventories and other qualitative assessments. Once the curricular materials have been shown to be effective in reducing student misconceptions, they are to be widely available, along with associated documentation, to the Astronomy 101 teaching community. WWT is freely available and runs on virtually any PC, so instructors at a wide range of institutions can make use of the developed curricular materials. Broader Impacts: The concepts of size, scale, and structure extend beyond topical boundaries in STEM disciplines. From the smallest scales of nuclear and atomic physics, to the hidden geometry of Earth's crustal plates and faults, to the gargantuan scale of our universe, students are challenged to visualize and comprehend unseen and inaccessible geometries. Though the curricular materials deal specifically with these issues in an astronomical context, they provide opportunities for students of all disciplines to visualize unseen entities and build a coherent understanding of an inaccessible structure based on scientific interpretation of observational data. Three dimensional visualization and spatial reasoning skills have been shown to be critical for success not only in STEM careers, but also in careers not directly involving science and technology. For undergraduate students not majoring in a STEM discipline, a general education astronomy class may provide their only college experience in 3-D spatial visualization. The curricular activities in this project provide those students with the opportunity to explore 3-D astronomical structures in an interactive and student-driven intuitive environment. Practice in manipulating 3-D objects substantially increases spatial reasoning skills and improves a student's ability to create accurate mental maps of complex 3-D objects. This project brings powerful spatial visualization software to the undergraduate general education classroom, and helps non-science students develop spatial reasoning skills while forming a more accurate map of their natural surroundings.