This article explores immersive learning experiences for young learners in a planetarium setting. These experiences open new learning possibilities and ignite children’s inquiry and imagination. The authors describe a naturalistic observational study that examines two immersive planetarium programs for young children. Data was collected as observational reflections that captured children’s interactions and questions. By analyzing reflections alongside our observations, insights were revealed about expansive literacy process associated with immersive learning. Implications surface the benefits and drawbacks of immersive learning experiences in planetariums and offer design considerations museum for programming specifically aimed at young children in all ages museums and science centers.
AndreLDurksenTVolmanML (2017) Museums as avenues of learning for children: a decade of research. Learning Environmental Research20: 47–76.
2.
BoorenLMDownerJTVitielloVE (2012) Observations of children's interactions with teachers, peers, and tasks across preschool classroom activity settings. Early Education & Development23(4): 517–538.
3.
BraunVClarkeV (2012) Thematic analysis. In: CooperH (ed) APA Handbook of Research Methods in Psychology. Washington: American Psychological Association, Vol. 2, pp, 65–81.
4.
CavanaughDMClemenceKJTealeMM, et al. (2017) Kindergarten scores, storytelling, executive function, and motivation improved through literacy-rich guided play. Journal of Early Childhood Education45(6): 831–843.
ColliverYHarrisonLJBrownJE, et al. (2022) Free play predicts self-regulation years later: longitudinal evidence from a large Australian sample of toddlers and preschoolers. Early Childhood Research Quarterly59: 148–161.
ForzaniECastekJ (2022) Expansive, dynamic, and critical new literacies: widening views of digital and multimodal learning. In: International Encyclopedia of Education. 4th edition. New York: Elsevier, pp. 487–496.
12.
FroschCASchoppe-SullivanSJO’BanionDD (2019) Parenting and child development: a relational health perspective. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine15(1): 45–59.
13.
GöncüAMainC (2023) Early childhood teacher narratives on constructivism. Mind, Culture and Activity30(1): 42–56.
HendersonTAtencioD (2007) Integration of play, learning, and experience: what museums afford young visitors. Journal of Early Childhood Education35: 245–251.
16.
HulstonSJ (2023) Embodied meaning‐making: using literacy‐as‐event to explore a young child’s small world play. Literacy57(3): 327–339.
17.
Institute of Medicine (IOM) and National Research Council (NRC) (2015) Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8: A Unifying Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
18.
KervinLManteiJRiveraMCS, et al. (2023) Establishing a digital technology play space for children. Journal of Museum Education49(4): 525–537.
19.
KnightSKGilpatrickMVasquezT (2023) Asset-based teaching; uncover, cultivate, and empower students’ uniqueness. Journal of English Learner Education15: 2.
20.
MarianneANicholaisenLBIbsenT (1970) Planetariums between experience and enlightenment. Nordisk Museologi(1): 11–24.
21.
MoorhouseNtom DieckMCJungT (2019) An experiential view to children learning in museums with augmented reality. Museum Management and Curatorship34(4): 402–418.
22.
NGSS Lead States (2013) Next-Generation Science Standards: For States, by States. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
23.
Parisi-MorenoVLlonch-MolinaNSelfaM (2021) Information literacy instruction in early childhood education: the school museum. Literacy55(2): 83–90.
24.
PerryK (2012) What is literacy? –A critical overview of sociocultural perspectives. The Journal of Language & Literacy Education8(1): 50–71, [Online].
25.
PlummerJDSmallKJ (2018) Using a planetarium fieldtrip to engage young children in three-dimensional learning through representations, patterns, and lunar phenomena. International Journal of Science Education, Part B: Communication and Public Engagement8(3): 193–212.
ShafferSE (2015) Engaging Young Children in Museums. New York: Routledge.
28.
SivitilliA (2023) Characterizing the digital planetarium as a teaching and learning space. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. Retrieved from: https://hdl.handle.net/11427/40358
van EijckTBredewegBHoltJ, et al. (2024) Combining hands-on and minds-on learning with interactive diagrams in primary science education. International Journal of Science Education: 1–21.
31.
WellsB (2010) Naturalistic observation. In: Encyclopedia of Research Design. London: Sage Publications, Inc., Vol. 0, pp. 886–890.
32.
WolfBWoodE (2012) Integrating scaffolding experiences for the youngest visitors in museums. Journal of Museum Education37(1): 29–37.
33.
WyattR (2005) Planetarium paradigm shift. The Planetarian34(3): 15–19.
34.
WytheJ (2023) Trips are the thing we all remember from our school days’: the learning value of school trips for children with special educational needs from the perspective of primary school teachers. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs24(2): 389–404.
