Sermeus, Jan ; Salimpour, Saeed

Talk presented at AstroEdu Conference, Toronto, Canada on 2023-05-11

Abstract: There is an increased interest in what is happening in the dome of a planetarium. The educators (planetarians) are key players and central to understanding various aspects of visitor/student satisfaction, motivation for astronomy and learning. It is thus important to get an overview of who they are and how they operate. Schultz and Slater (2020) conducted a survey to answer this question, but their work was geographically limited. In this project we conducted a global survey. The aim is to provide a detailed overview of diverse profiles of the planetarium operators, the content they present, the ways in which they interact with the audience and how they grow in their profession. An extensive online, closed format, survey was constructed, checked for validity and distributed through the IAU OAE National Astronomy Education Coordinator network, the International Planetarium Society and regional planetarium associations. The survey was also translated into eleven languages to make it accessible to individuals who may not be confident in English. A mixed-methods approach to the analysis allowed for the exploration of the various layers and correlations between different constructs in the survey, which included educational background, the amount and role of interactions during presentations, astronomy content, professional growth, and various others. This talk will provide an overview of the results from this global planetarian demographic survey which reached 305 planetarians from 46 countries (representing every continent except for Antarctica).