Ka Chun Yu kcyu@dmns.org

Re-Imagining Worldviews:

Digital Planetarium Programs for Ecological Literacy

Ka Chun Yu

DMNS13 July 2011

About The Worldviews Network

Uses immersive display environments for Earth systems science education

Combines live presentations, interactive scientific visualizations, with sustainability dialogues.

Amplify experiences with for audience engagement:

Seeing → Knowing → Doing

Partnerships between Informal Science Institutions, researchers, and NGOs & CBOs.

It establishes methods and documents their efficacy for sustained public dialogue about complex environmental issues and solutions using culturally and geographically relevant programming.

Funded by a 3-yr NOAA Environmental Literacy Grant

(Oct 2010 – Sep 2013)

Partnered with numerous science centers across the US

Preface …

We are living in the Anthropocene: humans are the dominate driver of change on Earth

Currently also an explosion of bio- and geospatial information.

Visualizations can show multi-spatial, temporal, and spectral scales.

Planetariums are uniquely positioned to present such datasets in context.

Education Guiding Principles

Essential Principles of Climate Literacy (2009)

Earth systems science education

Informal science education

Bioregional perspectives

“A safe operating space for humanity”

RockstrÖm et al. (2009), Nature, 461(7263), pp. 472-475.

Education Guiding PrinciplesPlanetary Boundaries

Framework for Transformational

Learning:

Seeing, Knowing, DoingVisual

ThinkingSystems Thinking

DesignThinking⇳⇳

Dome Visuals

Understanding Presentation

BCD / Design

Science Lab⇳⇳

Seeing: Visual ThinkingScientific visualization of ecosystems at multiple

scales

Cosmic

Bioregional

Global

Knowing: Systems ThinkingHow human nature really worksPeople are not “self-interested rational actors”: We do not

reason to the “right conclusions” based on the “right facts”.

People are not computers or machines: We simultaneously perceive the world emotionally, aesthetically, empirically, intellectually, and intuitively.

Information is not enough: The “information deficit” model of education assumes we act rationally given proper information.

Specialization has limits: The fragmentation of the study of complex interrelated phenomena into multiple disciplines can reduce the ability to see what is necessary for the integrity of the whole system.

Behavior change depends on design: To effectively change behaviors, we must redesign environments according to living systems principles.

Doing: Design Thinking

Bioregional Community Dialogues: to amplify learning experiences with dialogue and opportunities to put newly acquired knowledge and awareness into practice.

Connect audience with opportunities for local action: sustainability dialogues include NGOs, researchers, and public audiences.

Premiere Event: A Global Water StoryDenver Museum of Nature & ScienceGates Planetarium, Tuesday May 24 2011, 7 p.m.

Plunge into a national conversation about local and global water issues using the immersive technology of Gates Planetarium at the premier event for the new Worldviews Network. Typically the Planetarium is used to study space, but its capabilities are also ideal for a discussion about earth systems and environmental science. This program will be simulcast live to sites across the United States, as part of the Worldviews Network, a nationwide conversation about water with scientists and other experts. Here in Denver, geologist Bob Raynolds, PhD, and space scientist Ka Chun Yu, PhD, will explain the planetary processes that affect water supplies around the world and in the American West.

Case Study

Doing

Video clip of Denver BCDASTC MOS BCD clip

DoingDMNS A Global Water Story Partnerships

• Colorado Foundation for Water Education• Western Water Assessment• Colorado Geological Survey• Denver Water• Aurora Water• Northern Water Conservancy District• CSU Extension Service• Biohabitats• Savory Institute• + 15 more …

Future DMNS collaborations?

Doing: Design Science

“The effective application of the principles of science to the conscious design of our total environment in order to help make the Earth's finite resources meet the needs of all of humanity without disrupting the ecological processes of the planet.”

Doing: Design ThinkingFocusing on Synergetic Solutions

challenge.bfi.org

Doing: Design ThinkingBioregional Community

Dialogues

challenge.bfi.org

Next steps:Moving toward a Science Cafe model blended with the Design Science Process

sciencecafes.org

Ka Chun Yu kcyu@dmns.org

• Education to address sustainability, planetary boundaries crises

• Regional museums to nurture systematic understanding of local bioregions

• Getting around the advocacy debate

What is the future of natural history museums?

Ka Chun Yu kcyu@dmns.org

Seeing: Visual ThinkingScientific visualization of ecosystems at multiple scales

Cosmic

Global to Local

Seeing: Visual ThinkingScientific visualization of ecosystems at multiple

scalesBioregional

Seeing: Visual ThinkingScientific visualization of ecosystems at multiple

scalesBioregional

Knowing: Systems Thinking

Audience SurveysOne thing I never realized was that....

Cosmic N = 4

• Ice in Solar System and Earth’s water from comets

Global N= 36

• Many statements about how little water is accessible. It is obvious from audience feedback that there were two images that had an impact, the water spheres compared to Earth and the visible difference between the Israeli and Egyptian border due to land management.

Local N=19

• Most of these responses involved the Colorado River and the extent to which cities and populations depended on it for water.

Seeing: Visual ThinkingScientific visualization of ecosystems at multiple

scalesGlobal

All Water

FreshWater

Ice

Seeing: Visual ThinkingScientific visualization of ecosystems at multiple

scales

Knowing: Systems Thinking

Audience SurveysDoes seeing the information in the dome change how you understand it?

• Yes = 60

• No = 5

If yes, in what way?

• Majority of answers specifically reference the following ideas:

• Perspective

• Visual nature of the information

• Allows for a sense of scale

• Gives you the context of the issues

Knowing: Systems Thinking

Audience SurveysOn a scale of 1 to 7, where 1 is "very difficult to understand" and 7 is "very easy to understand," please rate how easy it was to understand the visualizations presented:

Knowing: Systems Thinking

Audience Surveys

What did you like most about tonight's event?

- Technology (includes “visuals”) = 24

- Pedagogy (includes “speaker”) = 23

- Content = 24

Knowing: Systems Thinking

Audience SurveysThinking about your experience with the dome presentation tonight... Please read each statement below, choose the top THREE (3) statements that best reflect what you got out of your experience with the Dome presentation.

The highest frequency responses were:

The Dome helped me better understand the geography of Earth or other planetary objects. (24)

It made me think about the complex interrelations in the earth systems. (23)

Helped me visualize certain concepts of time and scale (18)

The Dome helped me understand global processes (18)

Knowing: Systems Thinking

Audience SurveysThinking about your experience with the dome presentation

tonight... Please read each statement below, choose the top THREE (3) statements that best reflect what you got out of your experience with the Dome presentation.

The response with the highest rank (Mean=1.6) was:

It made me think about the complex interrelations in the earth systems, followed by...

I felt a sense of the sacred in regards to the Earth (1.67)

I felt a need to take better care of Earth (1.75)