Summary:
In recent years there has been an increase in images in textbooks and science books. This increase follows the general imperative for an increase in visual stimuli in relation to the text, according to the sociocultural context of each country (Halkia and Theodoridis, 2002; Bakas & Mikropoulos, 2003; Dimopoulos, Koulaidis & Sklaveniti, 2003, Ge et al., 2018). An image can significantly enhance the understanding of science and highlight phenomena and relationships that are not directly observable or understood solely through the text (Ge et al., 2018).
However, it should not be taken for granted that the plethora of images in textbooks always works in a positive way. The choice of the right image is a crucial process, which must be done with great care and requires sufficient visual literacy (Theodoridis and Chalkia, 2002). The readers’ interpretation of an image depends both on the previous ideas they have formed on a subject, and on the characteristics of the image (Ametller & Pintó, 2002).
As children observe the world around them, they construct various alternative ideas based on everyday experience. In particular, the world of astronomy involves students in concepts and phenomena for which there is no direct experience. This makes it difficult for them to understand the large-scale magnitudes and distances prevailing in space, as well as the phenomena that exist in it (Schneps et al., 2014; Taylor et al., 2003; Vosniadou 1991). Many studies have dealt with the function of images in astronomy and have highlighted how inaccuracies in representations and in the scale of sizes and distances can convey divergent ideas about celestial bodies and the phenomena in which they are involved (Bakas & Mikropoulos, 2003, Bailey & Slater, 2004; Bryce & Blown, 2013; Cin 2007; Dove, 2002; Kikas, 1987; Ojala, 1997; Pena & Quilez, 2001; Sharp, 1996; Testa et al., 2014; Simitzoglou & Chalkia, 2007).
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the images of the official textbooks of Greek primary schools and the images and dynamic representations in the digital platform "Photodendron", which concern depictions about our Solar System. Based on the logical consistency and the achievement of the teaching objective, a number of positive points of each image, hypotheses for alternative ideas that each image can convey, as well as suggestions for improvement are listed.
Keywords:
astronomy, solar system, images, dynamic representations, textbooks, alternative ideas
