Astronomy education is particularly difficult because it requires learners to grasp multiple perspectives of celestial motion and reach a meta-level understanding by combining these perspectives. To enhance the understanding of various astronomy education perspectives, we developed a tangible learning environment called the tangible earth system. In this paper, we report on a case study in which we used our tangible earth system as an educational tool in a collaborative learning environment. Based on Price’s (2008) assessment framework, we identified design problems that impede learners from collaboratively understanding celestial concepts. For example, the tangible interface’s physical nature often hindered learners from grasping multiple perspectives and exchanging competent interpretations, misleading them into making incorrect judgments. Based on our analysis, we discussed design principles to alleviate the problems of location, dynamics, and correspondence parameters.
