iStarDB (The Astronomy Education Research Repository)
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2071 research outputs found
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Prior Knowledge Base Of Constellations And Bright Stars Among Non-Science Majoring Undergraduates And 14-15 Year Old Students
No full textAs part of an effort to improve students’ knowledge of constellations and bright stars in an introductory level descriptive astronomy survey course, we measured the baseline knowledge that students bring to the class and how their score evolve over the course of the semester. This baseline is needed by the broader astronomy education research community for future comparisons about which strategies and environments are the best for learning the stars and constellations. As a comparison group, we also examined the baseline knowledge of 14-15 year old, 9th grade students from the United States. 664 university students averaged 2.04±0.08 on a constellation knowledge survey, while 46 additional students averaged higher at 8.23±0.23. The large, lower scoring group is found to have the same knowledge level as the 14-15 year old 9th grade students which scored 1.79±0.13. The constellations most often identified correctly were
Orion and Ursa Major. For the star portion of the survey, which was only given to the university students, we found essentially no statistically significant prior knowledge for the 17 brightest stars surveyed. The average score for the stars was 1.05±0.05, as expected for guessing, although Polaris and Betelgeuse are labeled correctly more often than any other stars
Preservice Teachers Developing Coherent Inquiry Investigations in Elementary Astronomy
No full textFor students to attain deep understanding of scientific practices, they will need to have opportunities to participate in sustained engagement in doing science. Such opportunities begin with elementary teachers implementing coherent and well-sequenced inquiry-based investigations in their classrooms. This study explored how preservice teachers (N = 30) planned inquiry-based investigations for elementary students. The preservice teachers spent the first 5 weeks of their methods course participating in astronomy investigations and then pair-taught astronomy investigations once a week for 5 weeks to elementary students in afterschool programs. We analyzed lesson plans, teaching reflections, and pre/post astronomy content assessments. One-third of the pairs developed coherent science inquiry investigations across all of their lessons. Their reflections suggest that preservice teachers who developed coherent inquiry investigations held normative ideas about scientific
inquiry and were more likely to reflect on sense-making practices than preservice teachers who did not plan for coherent science inquiry investigations in their lessons. Preservice teachers’ postinstruction astronomy content knowledge was positively correlated with an increased number of lessons spent on coherent science inquiry investigations. Based on our findings, we recommend engaging preservice teachers in coherent science inquiry
investigations in a single domain followed by opportunities to plan and teach elementary children in that domain
Australian sites of astronomical heritage
No full textThe heritage of astronomy in Australia has proven an effective communication medium. By interpreting science as a social and cultural phenomenon new light is thrown on challenges, such as the dispersal of instruments and problems identifying contemporary astronomy heritage. Astronomers are asked to take note and to consider the communication of astronomy now and in the future through a tangible heritage legacy
Astronomy for a Better World: IAU OAD Task Force-1 Programs for Advancing Astronomy Education and Research in Universities in Developing Countries
No full textWe discuss the IAU Commission 46 and Office for Astronomy Development (OAD) programs that support advancing Astronomy education and research primarily in universities in developing countries. The bulk of these operational activities will be coordinated through the
OAD’s newly installed Task Force 1. We outline current (and future) IAU/OAD Task Force-1 programs that promote the development of University-level Astronomy at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Among current programs discussed are the past and future expanded activities of the International School for Young Astronomers (ISYA) and the Teaching Astronomy for Development (TAD) programs. The primary role of the ISYA program is the organization
of a three week School for students for typically M.Sc. and Ph.D students. The ISYA is a very successful program that will now be offered more frequently through the generous support of the Kavli Foundation. The IAU/TAD program provides aid and resources for the development of
teaching, education and research in Astronomy. The TAD program is dedicated to assist countries that have little or no astronomical activity, but that wish to develop or enhance Astronomy education. Over the last ten years, the ISYA and TAD programs have supported programs in Africa, Asia, Central America and the Caribbean, the Middle East, South East and West Asia, and South America. Several examples are given. Several new programs being considered by OAD Task Force-1 are also discussed. Other possible
programs being considered are the introduction of modular Astronomy courses into the university curricula (or improve present courses) as well as providing access to “remote learning” courses and Virtual Astronomy labs in developing countries. Another possible new program would support visits of astronomers from technically advanced countries to spend their sabbatical leaves teaching and advising University Astronomy programs in developing countries. Suggestions for new Task Force-1 programs are also welcomed. Useful information about the participation of IAU members and volunteers in these programs will be discussed and practical information will be provided
Amateur Astronomy Network Development in Indonesia
No full textIndonesia is a very big country with over 238 million people. And we only have one higher learning institution on astronomy, so how do we reach and convey astronomical information effectively to the whole country? The answer lies in Astronomy Clubs who play an increasingly important role to communicate and educate the public. As part of South East Asia, Indonesia is actively involved in the region to develop astronomy
Galaxy Zoo: Outreach and Science Hand in Hand
No full textGalaxy Zoo (www.galaxyzoo.org) is familiar to many as a hugely successful public engagement project. Hundreds of thousands of members of the public have contributed to Galaxy Zoo which collects visual classifications of galaxies in Sloan Digital Sky Survey and Hubble Space
Telescope images. Galaxy Zoo has inspired a suite of similar Citizen Science projects known as “The Zooniverse” (www.zooniverse.org) which now has well over half a million participants. Galaxy Zoo has also shown itself, in a series of peer reviewed papers, to be a fantastic database for the study of galaxy evolution. In this invited talk I described how that public engagement via citizen science is not only an effective means of outreach from data intensive surveys, but if done right can and must also increase the scientific output of the survey
Determining the Level of Knowledge and Mental Models of Secondary School Students Regarding the Solar System
No full textThe aim of this study was to determine the level of knowledge and mental models of secondary school students regarding the solar system. The study was performed with 65 eighth grade students attending a secondary school in a provincial center in northern Turkey. In this study, students were asked to draw the solar system, and to write the names of the planets in the proper order. Descriptive analysis was performed on the drawings and written descriptions provided by the students, with the data being evaluated based on five different levels previously used by Bartoszeck et al. (2008) and Uzunkayak (2009a; 2009b). Based on the study results, it was determined that the students lacked sufficient knowledge regarding the solar system, and that they possessed erroneous information regarding the order and sizes of the planets. In addition, none of the students were able to write down the eight planets of the solar system, which further illustrated their lack of knowledge on this subject
Exploring Seventh-Grade Students’ and Pre-Service Science Teachers’ Misconceptions in Astronomical Concepts
No full textPre-service science teachers’ conceptual understanding of astronomical concepts and their misconceptions in these concepts is crucial to study since they will teach these subjects in middle schools after becoming teachers. This study aimed to explore both seventh-grade students’ and the science teachers’ understanding of astronomical concepts and to diagnose the misconceptions of seventh-grade students and pre-service science teachers regarding some basic astronomy concepts derived from a three-tier test. The test was administered to 105 pre-service science teachers and 91 seventh-grade students. The best conceptual understanding was related to the properties of the Sun. The students and pre-service science teachers have some common misconceptions in astronomy. Pre-service teachers mostly have misconceptions not regarding complex concepts but instead in very basic knowledge of astronomy. There is a need to take serious measures to correct the misconceptions of the teachers, since under such circumstances it is optimistic to expect them to teach the subject correctly
Optimal Model-Order for a Moon Phases Lab with Virtual and Physical Components
No full textWe designed a middle school lab experience to help students understand the cause of the Moon’s phases, using a combination of physical models (styrofoam balls and lamps) and computer models (WorldWide Telescope, WWT). We tested how model order (Foam then WWT, vs. WWT then Foam) would impact student learning
Development and validation of a learning progression for change of seasons, solar and lunar eclipses, and moon phases
No full textIn this paper, we report about the development and validation of a learning progression about the Celestial Motion big idea. Existing curricula, research studies on alternative conceptions about these phenomena, and students’ answers to an open questionnaire were the starting point to develop initial learning progressions about change of seasons, solar and lunar eclipses, and Moon phases; then, a two-tier multiple choice questionnaire was designed to validate and improve them. The questionnaire was submitted to about 300 secondary students of different school levels (14 to 18 years old). Item response analysis and curve integral method were used to revise the hypothesized learning progressions. Findings support that spatial reasoning is a key cognitive factor for building an explanatory framework for the Celestial Motion big idea, but also suggest that causal reasoning based on physics mechanisms underlying the phenomena, as light flux laws or energy transfers, may significantly impact a students’ understanding. As an implication of the study, we propose that the teaching of the three discussed astronomy phenomena should follow a single teaching-learning path along the following sequence: (i) emphasize from the beginning the geometrical aspects of the Sun-Moon-Earth system motion; (ii) clarify consequences of the motion of the Sun-Moon-Earth system, as the changing solar radiation flow on the surface of Earth during the revolution around the Sun; (iii) help students moving between different reference systems (Earth and space observer’s perspective) to understand how Earth’s rotation and revolution can change the appearance of the Sun and Moon. Instructional and methodological implications are also briefly discussed