Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Streamlining Online Astronomy Education: Integrating ChatGPT and Stellarium Planetarium Software to Serve as a Virtual Teaching Assistant

2025; SAGE Publishing; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1177/00472395241309599

1541-3810

Linghong Li, Wayne F. Patton,

AI in Service Interactions

The evolving landscape of higher education demands integrating advanced technologies to foster engaging and inclusive learning environments. This paper examines the practical integration of Stellarium, a virtual planetarium software, and ChatGPT, an AI conversational agent, in an asynchronous online undergraduate astronomy course. Stellarium enables students to explore celestial phenomena in an interactive virtual setting, enhancing conceptual understanding. ChatGPT supports instructor oversight by facilitating interactive discussions, answering student queries, and providing personalized tutoring, thereby promoting active engagement. By showcasing the implementation process and its impact on student learning, this study demonstrates how merging innovative pedagogies with cutting-edge tools can enhance online astronomy education and offers insights for broader applications across disciplines.