Analogical education in times of virtuality: Back to the hands-on activities – 15 years of NASE program

1 Introduction

In recent years, traditional education has encountered the advent of multiple tools that provide closed-box solutions in the field of so-called artificial intelligence (AI). According to Bilmes (De la Calle 2023), these resources are neither intelligent nor artificial, although they can be important in facilitating a series of actions that, otherwise, could mean investing significant time in other activities or acquiring knowledge beyond the technical skills required for these new tools to be useful. Benasayag (Benasayag 2023) is also clear regarding the AI: it does not think, and this is an important point for discussion.

However, as is the case with any resource that presents itself as a “better our lives” and “help us with our own development,” there is a risk of surrendering our very nature as a species to a resource that is not beneficial to knowledge.

First of all, it is very clear that new technologies are here to stay, so opposing these resources does not seem appropriate. If we want to develop our skills, the challenge is to integrate them while ensuring that learning is meaningful.

In the 1960s, it was analog television or communications; later it was large computers and cellular telephony, microwaves, or medical imaging, things that seemed to have been inspired by science fiction stories. The disruptive literature of the time imagined as everyday life what was only beginning to emerge from scientific development.

In this third decade of the twenty-first century, dreams of the past have materialized in the form of computer resources that help us solve certain problems but which, like all information and communication technologies, must be used within the framework of education with care, in controlled doses and always teaching to understand what is being used.

There are already several investigations that draw attention to how the brain works in the face of new technologies, what we give up or resign ourselves to when using them, and how education plays a key role in preserving important brain functions such as memory, the understanding of what is being done, observed or studied, and, of course, the ability to be producers of knowledge.

There is a potential risk that excessive reliance on AI for decision-making could diminish human capacity for critical thinking. It was expected that the creation of methods to explain these “black box” models would alleviate some of these problems, but attempting to explain such models, instead of creating models that are interpretable from the outset, will likely perpetuate bad practices and could cause catastrophic harm to society. There is a path forward: designing models that are inherently interpretable and developing strategies that maximize benefits (Rudin 2019).

In their review on the impact of digital technology, social networks, and AI on cognitive functions, Shanmugasundaram and Tamilarasu (2023) proposed a particular set of strategies, based on previous research, to mitigate the negative effects of excessive use of digital technology. First, “digital detox” involves periods of abstinence from devices, creating screen-free zones and using analog alternatives (Duke and Montag 2017). Second, mindful technology use fosters healthy habits through informed decisions about its use (Rosen et al. 2013). Third, regular exercise counteracts the negative impacts of excessive screen time, improving cognitive function and well-being (Sibley and Etnier 2003). Fourth, training in media literacy and digital skills equips individuals to critically evaluate digital content and use tools responsibly (Hobbs 2010). Finally, using timers and focusing on a single task at a time reduces digital distractions and improves focus (Ophir et al. 2009).

To better understand the complex relationship between technology and the brain, and to determine optimal methods for leveraging digital tools to maximize cognitive health, further research is essential.

2 The education of natural sciences and resources

No one will deny the ability of an application to display the sky from any place on Earth at any time of the year, but in recent years there has been a growing emphasis on the need to transmit not only how to use a “product,” which may be perfectly adequate for a specific purpose, but also to recognize where the information it produces comes from, how things happen in nature, why the sky changes throughout the day and year, and how that knowledge is the result of tens of thousands of years of observation.

It is true that technology is useful and quickly solves a problem or answers a question that puzzles us, but for the brain to generate new neural connections, the learning of something new must be real. We must transmit more than information, and often we must transmit it beyond the use of our eyes, through reading.

The so-called “hands-on” approach (Charpak 2011) is not a recent proposal; using all the senses to acquire knowledge, mainly through experimentation, is normal in the early years of life, but then it fades.

Imagine, for example, wanting to explain the movement of the skies or why the sun only rises due east 2 days a year. We can simply say it, we can provide a text that reinforces the teacher’s word, the student can turn to networks, and even to some of the AI platforms.

Let’s do the experiment.

Let’s ask, for example: where does the sun rise?

1. To Gemini, and the answer is:

2. The sun always rises in the east, but the exact position varies throughout the year due to the tilt of the Earth’s axis and its orbit around the sun. Here are some key points:

3. Equinoxes:

4. During the spring and autumn equinoxes (around March 21 and September 21), the sun rises exactly in the east and sets exactly in the west.

5. Solstices:

6. In the summer solstice, the sun rises more toward the northeast and sets toward the northwest. In the winter solstice, the sun rises more toward the southeast and sets toward the southwest.

7. Seasonal variation:

8. In general, in summer, the sun rises more to the northeast and in winter, more to the southeast. Therefore, although we say that the sun rises in the east, its exact position varies depending on the time of year.

9. To chatGPT, and the answer is:

10. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.

11. This happens because the Earth rotates from west to east, so from our perspective, it seems that the sun moves in the opposite direction. Would you like to know how that changes depending on the time of year or the place where you are?

“Why doesn’t the sun always rise exactly in the east? Although we say ‘the sun rises in the east,’ that’s a general reference. In reality, the exact position varies throughout the year due to the tilt of the Earth’s axis and its orbit around the Sun.

Changes throughout the year:

During the equinoxes (around March 21 and September 23): The sun rises exactly in the east and sets exactly in the west. This occurs because the Earth’s axis is not tilted relative to the sun at those times. Between spring and summer (in the northern hemisphere): The sun rises more toward the northeast and sets toward the northwest. Longer days and shorter nights. Between autumn and winter: The sun rises more toward the southeast and sets toward the southwest. Shorter days and longer nights. Does it depend on the place where I am? Yes! Latitude matters a lot: The closer you are to the equator, the more vertical the sun’s path is and the more symmetrical the sunrise/sunset is. The further north or south you are, the more ‘tilted’ the path will be, and the more extreme the change between seasons will be.”

Of course, the answers are correct. The question for the educator should be: are the answers, which the student then puts into a report, practical work, or utters in an oral presentation or in poster format in class, significant?

On the contrary, is it enough to read the information from the screen and prepare a digital report?

3 Teaching with 3D models and simulators

There is verifiable evidence (Benasayag 2023) regarding memory, and which part of the brain is activated when one reads on a screen, when we read on paper, and when from reading, we attempt to create a real model where our sense of touch is involved, we must cut and paste and then contrast against the evidence. The delegation of brain functions to AI is detrimental.

What happens if, in addition to what exists in the bibliography, and what I read or hear, I add real-time experience and to that experience, the creation of a 3D simulator, which allows me to recognize first my ability to build such devices, and then their importance in reproducing what I can observe with my own eyes.

3.1 AI answers

Imagine that the student improves and expands the demand, and asks the AI the following:

“where does the Sun rise? plot the result and make a report”

The result would be:

Where does the Sun rise?

The sun rises in the east. However, the precise location of sunrise shifts throughout the year. This is due to Earth’s axial tilt and its orbit around the Sun.

Graphic (Figure 1):

Figure 1

Gemini plot for the Sun rise, E = East (Equinox), W = West (Equinox), N = North, S = South, NE = Northeast (Summer Solstice), NW = Northwest (Summer Solstice), SE = Southeast (Winter Solstice), SW = Southwest (Winter Solstice).

Brief Report:

The common understanding that the Sun rises in the east is a simplification. While generally accurate, the exact point of sunrise varies significantly depending on the time of year.

Equinoxes: During the spring and autumn equinoxes (around March 21 and September 23), the sun rises precisely in the east and sets precisely in the west. Solstices: In the summer solstice, the sun rises in the northeast and sets in the northwest, resulting in longer daylight hours. In the winter solstice, the sun rises in the southeast and sets in the southwest, leading to shorter daylight hours. Latitude: The observer’s latitude also plays a role. Those closer to the equator experience a more consistent east-west sunrise and sunset, while those at higher latitudes observe a more significant variation throughout the year.

In essence, while “east” is the general direction, the Earth’s tilt causes a dynamic shift in the sun’s rising point.

3.2 Paper simulators

It is always interesting to carry out educational experiences that invite the production of tools and devices and then test them with people of different ages, genders, and cultures, evaluating their impact.

In that sense, and since its inception in 2010, the Network for Astronomy School Education (NASE, www.naseprogram.org) has conducted hundreds of thousands of satisfaction surveys in order to not only analyze the effectiveness of its proposal, but also to improve activities, update content, and address the changes that have occurred in recent decades not only in education but also in human behavior (Ros & García, 2017).

The proposal is not one of teaching in a biased way, but integrating knowledge and sharing activities of “manual skill” and “understanding of concepts associated with the functioning of nature” with those that are available in the field of digital activity. No one denies that technology and digital resources have progressed in recent years and are presented today as the solution to almost all problems.

Regarding the sunrise phenomenon, the proposal involves constructing a simulator. The process is straightforward: cut and glue the components, and then, according to your latitude, observe the sunrise and sunset positions within the 3D model (Figures 2 and 3). Additionally, it is possible to determine the approximate altitude of the Sun at noon, when it reaches the local meridian, corresponding to the site’s longitude.

Figure 2

Constructing a paper simulator in Togo.

Figure 3

Sun apparent movement simulator for different latitudes.

After that, the invitation is to go...and see the nature, for example in the equinoxes and other moment of the year. This activity can be complemented by the real measuring of the Sun altitude at noon, with a simple quadrant (Figure 4) also prepared by the student.

Figure 4

Measuring the altitude of the Sun with a simplified quadrant.

3.3 Starcharts

In the same way that we produce a Sun rise/set 3D model, it is possible to prepare a Stellar simulator, to explain circumpolar visible and not visible stars, to show stars which rise and set (Figure 5) and prepare stellar maps, to explain how the sky changes for different latitudes (Figure 6), and for each month, day, and observing time.

Figure 5

Stars simulator.

Figure 6

Paper Sky-chart, prepared in Mexico.

In comparison, the availability of mobile applications and digital simulators and software for laptops is important. The union of the fairly well-known celestial landscape with the celestial one is not trivial; flat representations of spherical or hemispherical spaces are not intuitive, and, in fact, teaching geography through maps of the Earth’s surface is inadequate, but in the case of the celestial sphere it is still more difficult, because we are not on the sphere (the Earth’s case), but in the middle of it.

There are different ways to represent the celestial sphere, but the proposal is always to compare simulation and what our eyes can see in the natural space.

Figure 7 shows a proposal of co-creation of a possible celestial sphere using an umbrella. This is a very well-known resource and in this case a projection of the Chris Mariott’s SkyMap Pro 11.0 (Boe 2004) is used. The final "sky picture: can be as elaborate as the teacher can imagine (Figure 8).

Figure 7

Simulation of the celestial sphere in China.

Figure 8

Different “representations” of the starry night inside an umbrella, in Argentina.

Finally, choosing or selecting those applications that allow us to combine paper maps with digital maps is a matter of taste. Although the suggestion, whenever a throne is part of the transmission of concepts, will lead to the use of Stellarium (Zotti et al. 2021), a software created by scientists, available for any platform and operating system, and open source.

4 Results and discussion

Impact studies evaluating the NASE proposal focus on satisfaction surveys and evidence of resource utilization. In both areas, the results are highly promising.

5 Conclusions

Education, now more than ever, must enhance the power of the human brain to solve problems. Beyond what any young person does today with tools that answer almost (and we emphasize almost) any type of question or that can improve from what is called training... Something that is achieved by improving the questions, it is already giving us clues of what can happen: we are not interested in training a machine but that the trainer improves the questions... that Only a human being can do this. Teachers must accompany students on this path instead of opposing it, criticizing what we do not know, or prohibiting what we find risky. The student reinvents itself at an incredible speed; teachers should also follow that path.

There are those who anticipate apocalyptic futures in which man could be dominated by the machine. In those cases, I always recommend a couple of speculative fiction works (as we scientists like to call science fiction... if it is science, it cannot be fiction and many of those works are precious gems that serve to educate readers... we should appeal to them more).

One is Matrix (Irwin 2005), a proposal started in 1999 and integrated in 2021 by four films that are frankly a rescue of the power of the human being over the machines that, having been created by him, he can dominate, and the second is a story by Brian Aldiss that for decades I have had students of all ages read, whose title is Who Can Replace a Man? (Segar 2024) (and by extension a woman... of course). The answer in that story is... no one.

A proper balance between the use of traditional resources in education, which requires a focus on creating simple models whose function is to interpret the observable world, and technological tools that include AI, would appear to be the most appropriate for education in the second half of the twenty-first century. The relationship between the human being and the machine and its influence on the brain is a topic of research and the data are insufficient to reach any conclusions. With “handmade” resources, we encourage students to think more, and for themselves!

Beyond the current observation of the pros and cons of the emergence of new technologies, it is important to emphasize to students that they are a product of human creation and that the thought of a machine dominating a human being is simply part of our own fears as a species.

We teachers have the duty but also the right to show that power of human beings and teach how to use it in the midst of a changing society that creates its own dangers but that, even without recognizing it, is still a boy or girl in front of a natural event, such as an eclipse, the northern and southern lights, a sunset sky, the rainbow, after the rain and, yes... they are all astronomical phenomena. The Network for Astronomy Education in Schools has shown over the past 15 years the power of the common language of astronomy for natural science education, the impact of content, which has been constantly renewed according to new discoveries but also based on the requirements of teachers, such as the recent specialties of Astrobiology and the counterpoint with the ancient knowledge of the discipline through the space of Cultural Astronomy, demonstrating that it is impossible to cede the role of the educator to the black box of AI and showing the validity of astronomy as an inter, multi, and transdisciplinary, inclusive and plural discipline.

Let us use astronomy so that the power of wonder and marvel at the cosmos continues to be alive.