The frequency of Geography/Distance Learning/UNIPAMPA students to the planetariums: contributions to the politics of science popularization

Abstract

Planetariums represent an important alternative for teaching Astronomy. However, access to these and other non-formal education spaces bears the marks of inequality. Considering that, many times, the Geography teachers promote the first contacts of a child with a planetarium, we present a quantitative analysis of the frequency of undergraduates in Geography in the distance education modality from UNIPAMPA to planetariums in RS. The theoretical foundation of the analysis is Pierre Bourdieu's sociology. With a sample predominantly composed of low-income residents dispersed in the interior of the state (n = 252), we performed a logistic regression from which it was possible to conclude that the chance of a geography student having gone to a planetarium does not depend on gender or of age, but of the position of the family (1) in the space of class relations and (2) in the geographic space of the state. In addition, the chance of this student having gone to a planetarium can increase up to 15 times depending on the family income. However, controlling the effect of income, it is possible to see that this same chance falls below 50% among those who live 200 km away from a planetarium. Based on this information, we defend the installation of planetariums in the interior of RS as a way to reduce the population's distance from scientific culture.

Keywords

• popularização da ciência
• pierre bourdieu
• astronomia