iStarDB (The Astronomy Education Research Repository)
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Mission and Research Scientists in NASA EPO and STEM Education: The Results of 15 Years of EPO
No full textExploration of the Solar System and beyond is a team effort, from research programs to space missions. The same is true for science education. James Webb Space Telescope’s Near InfraRed Camera EPO Team has been teamed with Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona for nearly a decade. We now have collaborations throughout Arizona and across the nation
NASA Astrophysics Educator Ambassador Program
No full textThe NASA Astrophysics Educator Ambassador (EA) Program began in 2001 as part of the GLAST (now Fermi) EPO effort at Sonoma State University. The program currently supports 15 EAs, sponsored by either Fermi (10), Swift (3), XMM-Newton (1) or NuSTAR (1). This group of master educators work with mission scientists and EPO personnel to develop curricula and train teachers; they also do workshops for students and outreach events with the general public. Every other year since 2002 the EAs assemble for a week of training at SSU. Each training has had a different focus. Additionally, time is given for the EAs to share ideas from their own workshops. In the
dozen years of the program, the total number of teachers attending EA-run workshops is over 60,000, and EA workshops have received outstanding positive reviews from
participants according to surveys conducted by our external evaluator, WestEd. This poster gives an overview of the program and its nationwide impact
Evolution Of The Astronomy Concepts Along Basic Education Cycle
No full textAlthough astronomy is considered one of the older sciences of humanity and that the understanding of its concepts has brought tremendous advances to Science and therefore, to society, it is observed that a significant portion of people live outside of this kind of knowledge. According to the Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais for basic education, it is the school responsibility the dissemination of scientifically correct concepts, including those related to astronomy. Concerning this issue, we present a survey of 140 students of ninth grade of elementary school and 120 third-grade high-school students from four schools in the region of Passo Fundo/RS. We sought to determine, through a questionnaire
consisting of open and multiple choice questions, the knowledge of this group of students about the basic
terms and astronomical phenomena, and also verify that the hit rate increases as they advance through the
different and progressive grades of primary and secondary education. Overall, the results show that the teaching of astronomy in basic education is facing problems. Of the 20 issues investigated, in 17 the indicators are similar in the correct answers given by students for elementary and middle school, revealing that many misconceptions still remain along basic education. This demonstrates that such issues are not - or are rarely - covered during these two school levels. Thus, we conclude that the discussion of concepts related to astronomy should receive greater emphasis on approaching different subjects, requiring a national action in support of their teaching. It is believed that a national action should be
supported by a triple pillar of collective actors: the scientific community, semi-professional astronomy
community and the school community. Finally, this pillar would be the basis for future discussions related to the performance of these protagonists as a means to promote active changes in the curricular structure, providing, in more effective ways, the learning of astronomy in basic education
Different Cultures In Astronomy Education And Their Meanings In The Classroom
No full textThis paper is a reflection about the use of History of Science in the curriculum of formal education, through the discussion concerning cultural elements of several ethnic groups in Brazil, in actions related to astronomy education. The work was developed in the framework of an extension course and the analysis undertaken here refers to a meeting that discussed didactic sequences relating to that theme, based on the Brazilian law 11.645/2008, which states the obligation to present the subject “African-brazilian and indigenous History and Culture” in the official curriculum. The extension action was developed with teachers who teach Natural Sciences, in São Paulo state, discussing issues related to the use of History of Science and the relationship with cosmogonies from Iorubá and Tupi peoples, highlighting how they can enhance the work with Astronomy(ies) in the classroom. It was observed that the participants had not yet presented these themes in their classes and also did not participate in training courses that discussed these subjects
Using Ancient Chinese and Greek Astronomical Data: A Training Sequence in Elementary Astronomy for Pre-Service Primary School Teachers
No full textA great amount of research has been carried out world-wide to promote history of science as a powerful science teaching tool. Because the ways of choosing and using historical elements depend on teachers’ or researchers’ educational purpose, any attempt to support a single model-to-use seems difficult and probably irrelevant. However, specific purposes may reflect specific and prescriptive terms for using historical materials. Our work aims to show up this aspect. It is an attempt to make elements of the history of astronomy involved in the elaboration of a training session for future primary school teachers. Here, ancients’ Greek and Chinese historical elements are chosen and organized according to specific educational and conceptual constraints that include the construction of the quasi-parallelism of solar rays reaching Earths’ surface, and the spontaneous modeling of the propagation of Sunlight leaning on divergent rays. This leads to an original
teaching sequence were historical elements are mixed with non historical ones. This organization forms the support of a pre-service training session developed for future primary
school teachers. This session aims to provide future teachers with elementary cosmological knowledge (parallelism of Sunrays, shape and size of the Earth, Sun-Earth distance…), to provide some reference marks of history of ancient cosmologies (spherical and flat Earth) resulting from two distinct contexts, and to approach some aspects associated with Nature of Science (NOS)
Life in the Cosmic Context. An Astrobiology Course as an Experiment in Transdisciplinarity
No full text“Life in the Cosmic Context” (AGA0316) is the astrobiology course offered by University of S˜ao Paulo to undergraduate students of science and humanities majors. The variety of background of the population attending AGA0316 and the broad scope of the addresssed issues makes this course a laboratory of transdisciplinarity
Exploring How Research Experiences For Teachers Changes Their Understandings Of The Nature Of Science And Scientific Inquiry
No full textThe nature of science is a prevalent theme across United States national science education standards and frameworks as well as other documents that guide formal and informal science education reform. To support teachers in engaging their students in authentic scientific practices and reformed teaching strategies, research experiences for teachers offered in national laboratories, university research centers, and national field-sites promise opportunities to help teachers update their current understanding of STEM fields and experience firsthand how scientific research is conducted with the end goal of supporting more inquiry-based teaching approaches in their classrooms. This qualitative interpretive study used an adapted Views of Nature of Science and Views on Scientific Inquiry surveys and protocols to investigate changes in 43 practicing teachers understandings about the nature of science and scientific inquiry as a result of participation in one of three summer science research programs. Each program provided participants with research experiences alongside professional researchers as well as activities intended to increase participants abilities to provide inquiry-based science learning activities for their students. Data were collected using open-ended surveys pre-program, post-program and long-term follow-up surveys, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, along with researchers observations and field-notes. Participation in these programs led to small, measurable enhancements in teachers understandings of scientific inquiry and the nature of science. Teachers prior experience with research was found to have the strongest relationship to their knowledge of the nature of science and scientific inquiry. The data in this study provides evidence that research experiences can provide valuable experiences to support teachers improved knowledge of how science is conducted
Basic Astronomy Concepts In The Footsteps Of Eratosthenes
No full textBased on Eratosthenes’ method of “Measuring the Circumference of Earth,” dating from 276 BC, this study is the result of a fiveday, three-stage, science school, “I am Learning about My Planet” with the intent of having participants gain understanding of the basic concepts of astronomy in a non-traditional setting and using a non-traditional method. The first stage involved astronomy science schools with 30 primary school teachers and the second stage involved 30 primary school pupils (aged 14).
The last stage completed a “Measuring the Circumference of Earth” experimental activity with the participation of both the teachers and the pupils. A pre-test and post-test of 13-items, based on “The Astronomy Diagnostic Test” and the Turkish educational curriculum evaluated changes in participants. A comparison of the data from the teachers and the students produced interesting results, notably that more pupils than teachers answered certain questions correctly. Furthermore, experiment produced a unique instrument for measuring the circumference of Earth, with a calculated margin of error of 0,17%
CESAR: A Robotic Telescope Network To Science And Public Outreach
No full textCESAR is a new network for astronomy that put available some telescopes covering most of the observational techniques, from radioastronomy to optical astronomy, including solar observation. At least five astronomical telescopes will be ready for this project
Examination of Pre-service Science Teachers’ Understanding Levels of Kepler’s Laws With Ranking Task Questions
No full textThe purpose of this study was to investigate pre-service science teachers’ understanding levels of Kepler’s second and third laws. The participants of the study were 38 pre-service science teachers who attended introductory astronomy class in their teacher education program. The participants’ understandings of Kepler’s laws were examined by their answers to ranking tasks, which required participants to rank the situations given in the question, and then to explain the reasons behind their answers. The findings showed that the participants’ understanding levels ranged from partial understanding with alternative conceptions to sound understanding. Moreover the number of the participants with partial understanding with alternative conceptions exceeded the participants with sound understanding. The participants’ explanations to ranking tasks also indicated that although participants knew the classic statements of Kepler’s laws, they had also alternative conceptions. Five different alternative conceptions were identified from the participants’ explanations. Two of them have not been reported in previous studies