Significance of Black Hole Visualization and Its Implication for Science Education Focusing on the Event Horizon Telescope Project

• Main Authors: Hye-Gyoung Yoon, Jeongwoo Park, Insun Lee
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-05-01
• Series: Universe
• Subjects: black holes; science education; Giere’s model; Event Horizon Telescope project
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1997/6/5/70

In recent years, substantial progress has been made in black hole visualization. However, there is a lack of essential up-to-date information regarding black holes in current school curricula, in spite of students’ substantial interest in black holes. In this study, we examined the implications of the Event Horizon Telescope project, a recent achievement of the scientific community, for science education. An analysis of the black hole visualization research process, based on Giere’s scientific reasoning model, revealed that there are two categories of the black hole visualization processes: visualization through prediction based on a theory and visualization through real-world observation data. Black hole images are not merely scientific outputs that students must memorize; rather, they can be a useful resource for learning the nature of science and the characteristics of scientific reasoning.