iStarDB (The Astronomy Education Research Repository)
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Illuminating Learning in the Dome: Constructing the international STudies of Astronomy education Research DataBase
No full textPlanetarium educators and enthusiasts are left with the question of where are all of the educational effectiveness studies and hardearned community knowledge reports about successfully teaching in the planetarium? To our surprise, written accounts for most astronomy teaching strategies and planetarium education research results are far more widely dispersed than we anticipated
Construction Of A Didactic Model For Visualization Of Moon Phases And Eclipses
No full textAiming at the exploration of different didactic resources in the teaching-learning process, and to overcome the traditional methodology of classes, it is proposed the construction and use of a demonstration experiment, also called a desktop experiment, which consists of a didactic model of the Sun-Earth-Moon system, associated with the use of a computer to aid the visualization of phases of the Moon and solar and lunar eclipses. A brief exposition of the main phases of the moon and eclipses is developed. The result obtained after the construction of the model is quite satisfactory and the combination of its use with the computer can potentially help the students understanding of the phenomena approached by giving them the possibility of observation and reflection from two viewpoints: as observers on Earth and as external observers
Robotic Telescopes in Education.
No full textThe power of robotic telescopes to transform science education has been voiced by multiple sources, since the 1980s. Since then, much technical progress has been made in robotic telescope provision to end users via a variety of different approaches. The educational transformation hoped for by the provision of this technology has, so far, yet to be achieved on a scale matching the technical advancements. In this paper, the history, definition, role and rationale
of optical robotic telescopes with a focus on their use in education is provided. The current telescope access providers and educational projects and their broad uses in traditional schooling, undergraduate and outreach are then outlined. From this background, the current challenges to the field, which are numerous, are then presented. This
review is concluded with a series of recommendations for current and future projects that are apparent and have emerged from the literature
Teaching students about informatics and astronomy using real data for detection of asteroids
No full textIn this paper we approach the astronomy teaching process for students in computer sciences through a controlled investigation method using real astronomical data, including data reduction and quality control of the astrometry of near-Earth asteroids. The method used data collected on the Isaac Newton Telescope located at the ORM observatory on the island of La Palma in the Spanish Canary Islands and was successfully tested with a group of students in their second year of study
Original Research By Young Twinkle Students (ORBYTS): when can students start performing original research?
No full textInvolving students in state-of-the-art research from an early age eliminates the idea that science is only for the scientists and empowers young people to explore STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects. It is also a great opportunity to dispel harmful stereotypes about who is suitable for STEM careers, while leaving students feeling engaged in modern science and the scientific method. As part of the Twinkle Space Mission's educational programme, EduTwinkle, students between the ages of 15 and 18 have been performing original research associated with the exploration of space since January 2016. The student groups have each been led by junior researchers—PhD and post-doctoral scientists—who themselves benefit substantially from the opportunity to supervise and manage a research project. This research aims to meet a standard for publication in peer-reviewed journals. At present the research of two ORBYTS teams have been published, one in the Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series and another in JQSRT; we expect more papers to follow. Here we outline the necessary steps for a productive scientific collaboration with school children, generalising from the successes and downfalls of the pilot ORBYTS projects
Barriers Inhibiting Inquiry-Based Science Teaching and Potential Solutions: Perceptions of Positively Inclined Early Adopters
No full textIn recent years, calls for the adoption of inquiry-based pedagogies in the science classroom have formed a part of the recommendations for large-scale high school science reforms. However, these pedagogies have been problematic to implement at scale. This research explores the perceptions of 34 positively inclined early-adopter teachers in relation to their implementation of inquiry-based pedagogies. The teachers were part of a large-scale Australian high school intervention project based around astronomy. In a series of semistructured interviews, the teachers identified a number of common barriers that prevented them from implementing inquiry-based approaches. The most important barriers identified include the extreme time restrictions on all scales, the poverty of their common professional development experiences, their lack of good models and definitions for what inquiry-based teaching actually is, and the lack of good resources enabling the capacity for change. Implications for expectations of teachers and their professional learning during educational reform and curriculum change are discussed
Reading the Sky and The Spiral of Teaching and Learning in Astronomy
No full textThis theoretical paper introduces a new way to view and characterize teaching and learning astronomy. It describes a framework, based on results from empirical data, analyzed through standard qualitative research methodology, in which a theoretical model for vital competencies of learning astronomy is proposed: Reading the Sky. This model takes into account not only disciplinary knowledge but also disciplinary discernment and extrapolating three-dimensionality. Together, these constitute the foundation for the competency referred to as Reading the Sky. In this paper, I describe these concepts and how I see them being connected and intertwined to form a new competency model for learning astronomy and how this can be used to inform astronomy education to better match the challenges students face when entering the discipline of astronomy: The Spiral of Teaching and Learning. Two examples are presented to highlight how this model can be used in teaching situations
Physical Sciences Preservice Teachers’ Religious and Scientific Views Regarding the Origin of the Universe and Life
No full textThis paper explores final-year physical sciences preservice teachers’ religious and scientific views regarding the origin of the universe and life. Data was
obtained from 10 preservice teachers from individual in-depth interviews conducted at the end of the Science Method module. Their viewpoints were analyzed using coding, sorting, and categorizing. They attributed the origin of the universe and life to a blend of theistic, intelligent design or scientific beliefs. Moreover, their academic backgrounds, exposure to topics in Cosmology in the Science Method module, and classroom dialogues did not significantly influence or change their original religious beliefs. However, the dialogues did create an awareness of their own reflected positions regarding the tenacity of beliefs in religion and their inadequate cosmological understandings. The paper has implications for Science Education in addressing preservice teachers’ religious beliefs in contrast to scientific evidence
Epistemic Cultures in Conflict: The Case of Astronomy and High Energy Physics
No full textThe article presents an in-depth analysis of epistemic cultures in conflict by exemplifying the epistemic conflict between high energy physics (HEP) and astronomy which emerged after the discovery of “dark energy” and the accelerating expansion of the universe. It suggests a theoretical framework combining Knorr-Cetina’s concept of epistemic cultures with Whitley’s theory of dependencies in the sciences system, which explains that epistemic conflicts occur, if the strategic and functional dependency of two incommensurable epistemic cultures is suddenly growing. The pre-history of the conflict is discussed on a micro-level for the two research groups involved in the breakthrough. The analysis of the consequent epistemic conflict on a macro-level reveals that it embraces the preferred epistemic strategy, the collaboration style, the instrumental concepts and the question how social legitimacy can be generated
Learning about the scale of the solar system using digital planetarium visualizations
No full textWe studied the use of a digital planetarium for teaching relative distances and sizes in introductory undergraduate astronomy classes. Inspired in part by the classic short film The Powers of Ten and large physical scale models of the Solar System that can be explored on foot, we created lectures using virtual versions of these two pedagogical approaches for classes that saw either an immersive treatment in the planetarium or a non-immersive version in the regular classroom (with N = 973 students participating in total). Students who visited the planetarium had not only the greatest learning gains, but their performance increased with time, whereas students who saw the same visuals projected onto a flat display in their classroom showed less retention over time. The gains seen in the students who visited the planetarium reveal that this medium is a powerful tool for visualizing scale over multiple orders of magnitude. However the modest gains for the students in the regular classroom also show the utility of these visualization approaches for the broader category of classroom physics simulations