A college student, he argued, is not a tabula rasa (cf Pinker 2003), but rather a carrier of misconceptions that are deeply rooted since early childhood. In an associated presentation, Wandersee ( 1989) asserted that students must be challenged to deconstruct misconceptions before they can construct valid mental models. Interviewees included students who had taken physics and astronomy courses at Harvard, one of the world’s top-ranked universities. Seasonal change was most commonly ascribed to large variations in Earth’s distance from the Sun (as also found by Trumper 2000 and numerous other studies). When interviewed at a commencement ceremony, 21 of 23 Harvard students, alumni, and faculty could not correctly explain the phases of the Moon nor the causes of seasons. 1989) dramatically showed how pervasive and persistent are people’s – even highly educated people’s – misconceptions regarding basic concepts in planetary science. The seminal study entitled A Private Universe (Schneps et al. Sadler 1998 Bailey and Slater 2003 Lindgren 2003 Danaia and McKinnon 2007, Kücüközer 2007).
There is a substantial body of discipline-based education research demonstrating the depth and breadth of astronomy misconceptions that are held by students, their teachers, and the general public (e.g. After using Google Earth, students are helped to segue to a heliocentric view. Mean correct answers rose from 4.7/10 to 6/10, giving a paired t-test value of 0.21. A classroom test of 27 undergraduates in a public research university showed that 15 improved their test scores after the Google Earth-based laboratory class, whereas 5 disimproved. We have therefore developed a learning resource using Google Earth, a virtual globe with other useful, weather- and climate-related visualizations. Studies show that many teachers share their students’ misconceptions, and even when they understand basic concepts, teachers may fail to appreciate the range of factors contributing to seasonal change, or their relative importance. Textbook explanations that omit multiple factors influencing seasons, that do not mesh with students’ experiences, or that are erroneous, hinder scientifically valid reasoning.
Misconceptions may be reinforced by textbook illustrations that exaggerate eccentricity or show an inclined view of Earth’s near-circular orbit. However, misconceptions regarding reasons for the seasons abound amongst students, teachers, and the public, many of whom believe that seasonality is caused by large variations in Earth’s distance from the Sun. Rich interaction with 3D visualization models, e.g.Public understanding of climate and climate change is of broad societal importance.3D visualization models can be linked with Google Spreadsheets or database tables via PostgREST for dynamic querying of thematic data for clicked 3D objects.
Layer management for adding and removing an arbitrary number of data layers like 3D visualization model (KML/glTF), 3DTiles datasets, WMS imagery layer, and Cesium digital terrain model.Support for efficient displaying, dynamic loading and unloading of large 3D visualization models in the form of tiled KML/glTF datasets exported from the 3DCityDB using the Importer/Exporter.Extension of the CesiumJS 3D virtual globe by:.