iStarDB (The Astronomy Education Research Repository)
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A mixed methods comparison of teachers' lunar modeling lesson implementation and student learning outcomes
No full textThe authors compare three teachers' adaptations and implementation of a lunar modeling lesson to explain marked differences in student learning outcomes on a spatial-scientific lunar assessment. They used a modified version of the Practices of Science Observation Protocol (P-SOP; Forbes, Biggers, & Zangori, 2013) to identify ways in which features of inquiry were emphasized in each classroom. Additionally, classroom communities of practice were categorized as task-based or practice-based (Riel & Polin, 2004). The authors found that student learning outcomes were related to the fidelity with which the teachers implemented the lesson. Teachers with higher P-SOP scores fostered more of a practice-based learning community than task-based one, which also paralleled greater student learning gains. Although the students' scores did not differ by teacher on the preassessment, they did differ significantly on the postassessment, indicating that the curricular choices and learning communities developed by the teachers impacted what students were able to learn
Ideal pictures and actual perspectives of junior secondary school science: comparisons drawn from Australian students in an astronomy education programme
No full textBackground: This research investigates the impact of a junior secondary astronomy education programme undertaken in four Australian educational jurisdictions.
Purpose: Junior secondary students’ perceptions of the science they experience at School are examined both before, during and after their engagement with a science programme targeting astronomy.
Programme description: The programme involved using remotely controlled telescopes over the Internet.
Sample: Non-randomised opportunity sampling was employed to recruit participants. Schools were drawn from both public (16) and private (14) sectors. Participants were 1427 students comprising 769 Year 7, 439 Year 8 and 219 Year 9.
Design and methods: A concurrent nested mixed method approach was used to investigate the impact of the programme on students’ perceptions of science at high school. Data were collected using a pre/post questionnaire coupled with semi-structured interviews with a sample of participants.
Results: Students exhibited negative perceptions of science at school prior to the commencement of the programme. Programme implementation covaried with highly significant changes in students’ perceptions of science.
Conclusions: The research highlights the importance of the teacher’s role and the way in which school science is implemented as being crucial contributors to the movement of students’ perceptions
“Can There be a Full Moon at Daytime?” Young Students Making Sense of Illustrations of the Lunar Phases
No full textTeaching and learning situations nowadays typically build on richly illustrated material or multimodal presentations. Under these circumstances, the transparency of images and models used for explaining various phenomena becomes central. The present study deals with 20 Swedish children, 9–12 years old, discussing an illustration meant to show the cause of the different appearances of the Moon in the sky. The students’ task was to place eight numbered moon phases in the lunar orbit in the image. The illustration in question was chosen (a) because it was of a kind frequently used to explain the lunar phases and (b) because the phenomenon is known to be difficult to understand for students of all ages. The analysis leans on historical and sociocultural approaches as well as on multimodal semiotics. The results show that a majority of students were able to make sense of the most central features of the illustration but that very few spontaneously reasoned in a way that could be interpreted as the intended meaning-making of the cause of the lunar phases. The results also indicate that the simultaneous adoption of two perspectives necessary for
understanding the phenomenon was a stumbling block for most of the students
Exploring How Creating Stop-Motion Animations Supports Student Teachers in Learning to Teach Science
No full textThis article reports on an exploration of teaching and learning through creating rudimentary stop-motion animations set up to identify how learning opportunities involving stop-motion animations can support student learning and science teacher education. Participants were student teachers, volunteers representing both secondary and primary school teacher training courses, from three universities in England. Their discussions while making an animation themselves were recorded. Six of the secondary trainees were later interviewed after having taught using animation during placement in school. Thematic analysis of the content of the recordings and interviews showed that the student teachers view the opportunities that making an animation creates for peer discussion as the most likely to promote learning. Modeling was also seen as beneficial, though no one particular activity or stage in animation creation stood out as being more effective than another. It is the holistic process of representing and re-representing one's scientific knowledge in different modes that made animation creation appear to be so useful in bringing about and supporting learning. With respect to teacher education, the student science teachers reported that making animations themselves supported them in thinking through the process of how, as teachers, they would need to communicate the underpinning science to others
Multiple aspects of high school students’ strategic processing on reading outcomes: The role of quantity, quality, and conjunctive strategy use
No full textBackground While the literature on strategy use is relatively mature, measures of strategy use overwhelmingly measure only one aspect of that use, frequency, when relating that strategy use to performance outcomes. While this might be one important attribute of strategy use, there is increasing evidence that quality and conditional use of cognitive and metacognitive strategies may also be important.
Aims This study examines how multiple aspects of strategy use, namely frequency, quality, and conjunctive use of strategies, influence task performance on both well‐ and ill‐structured task outcomes in addition to other concomitant variables that may interact with strategic processing during reading.
Sample The sample consisted of 21 high school students enrolled in an upper‐level biology class in a suburban school in the north‐eastern United States.
Methods These participants completed measures of prior knowledge and interest, then read either an expository or persuasive text while thinking aloud. They then completed a passage recall and open‐ended response following passage completion.
Results In general, quantity was not positively related to the study outcomes and was negatively related to one of them. Quality of strategy use, on the other hand, was consistently related to positive reading outcomes. The influence of knowledge and interest in terms of strategies is also discussed as well as six cases which illustrate the relation of aspects of strategy use and the other concomitant variables.
Conclusions Evaluating strategy use by solely examining the frequency of strategy use did not explain differences in task performance as well as evaluating the quality and conjunctive use of strategies. Further, important relations between prior knowledge, interest, and the task outcomes appeared to be mediated and moderated by the aspects of strategy use investigated
Teaching the Doppler effect in astrophysics
No full textThe Doppler effect is a shift in the frequency of waves emitted from an object moving relative to the observer. By observing and analysing the Doppler shift in electromagnetic waves from astronomical objects, astronomers gain greater insight into the structure and operation of our Universe. In this paper, a simple technique is described for teaching the basics of the Doppler effect to undergraduate astrophysics students using acoustic waves. An advantage of the technique is that it produces a visual representation of the acoustic Doppler shift. The equipment comprises a 40 kHz acoustic transmitter and a microphone. The sound is bounced off a computer fan and the signal collected by a DrDAQ ADC and processed by a spectrum analyser. Widening of the spectrum is observed as the fan power supply potential is increased from 4 to 12 V
Engaging Teenagers in Astronomy Using the Lens of Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core State Standards
No full textThe Vanguard Double Star Workshop has been developed to teach eighth graders the technique of measuring position angle and separation of double stars. Through this program, the students follow in the footsteps of a professional scientist by researching the topic, performing the experiment, writing a scientific article, publishing a scientific article, and finally presenting the material to peers. An examination of current educational standards grounds this program in educational practice and philosophy
Effect of 5e Teaching Model on Primary School Pre-service Teachers’ Learning on Some Astronomy Concepts
No full textThe purpose of this research was to examine the effect of the 5E teaching model on the primary school pre-service teachers’ (PSPTs) learning some astronomy concepts. The sample of this research consisted of 90 PSPTs in the 2nd year at a state university. The research was carried out on the pre-experimental methodology with a single research group. The data of the study were collected by concept cartoon form which included some astronomy concepts such as the Sun, star, planet, meteor, Solar System, constellations. The developed teaching materials about the chosen astronomy concepts were implemented in eight course hours. It was seen that most of the PSPTs had alternative concepts. A considerable decrease was determined when the pre and post-test results of the PSPTs were compared; it was found that learning based on the 5E teaching model had a positive effect on the conceptual change. It can be said that 5E teaching model was effective on remedying alternative concepts. In the future research about astronomy teaching may be conducted to determine the effects of 5E teaching model on remedying the alternative concepts and achieving conceptual change with the different education levels of students
Searching for potentially habitable extra solar planets: a directed-study using real data from the NASA Kepler-Mission
No full textWhat follows is a description of the procedure for a directed-study in which a student, guided by a faculty member, attempted to identify potentially habitable exoplanets using actual data available online from NASA’s Kepler Mission
The Use of Historical Texts for a Pedagogical Approach About the Nature of Science
No full textThis paper presents an experience including elaboration, application and analysis of Historical Texts of Pedagogical Nature including the reception, acceptance and propagation of Copernicus’ work.The historical texts of pedagogical nature were used in an outreach course at Piauí Federal University (UFPI) attended by students from Chemistry, Biology and Natural Science courses. The students read the texts and answered some questions about Nature of Science and History of Astronomy. The course used explicit and reflexive approach towards the Nature of Science. Thus, this paper aims to evaluate if Historical Texts of Pedagogical Nature are legitimate tools for the insertion of Nature of Science in higher
education