iStarDB (The Astronomy Education Research Repository)
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A Review of High School Level Astronomy Student Research Projects Over the Last Two Decades
No full textSince the early 1990s with the arrival of a variety of new technologies, the capacity for authentic astronomical research at the high school level has skyrocketed. This potential, however, has not realised the bright-eyed hopes and dreams of the early pioneers who expected to revolutionise science education through the use of telescopes and other astronomical instrumentation in the classroom. In this paper, a general history and analysis of these attempts is presented. We define what we classify as an Astronomy Research in the Classroom (ARiC) project and note the major dimensions on which these projects differ before describing the 22 major student research projects active since the early 1990s. This is followed by a discussion of the major issues identified that affected the success of these projects and provide suggestions for similar attempts in the future
Evolutionary Maps: A new model for the analysis of conceptual development, with application to the diurnal cycle
No full textThis paper presents a model of how children generate concrete concepts from perception through processes of differentiation and integration. The model informs the design of a novel methodology (evolutionary maps or emaps), whose implementation on certain domains unfolds the web of itineraries that children may follow in the construction of concrete conceptual knowledge and pinpoints, for each conception, the architecture of the conceptual change that leads to the scientific concept. Remarkably, the generative character of its syntax yields conceptions that, if unknown, amount to predictions that can be tested experimentally. Its application to the diurnal cycle (including the sun's trajectory in the sky) indicates that the model is correct and the methodology works (in some domains). Specifically, said emap predicts a number of exotic trajectories of the sun in the sky that, in the experimental work, were drawn spontaneously both on paper and a dome. Additionally, the application of the emaps theoretical framework in clinical interviews has provided new insight into other cognitive processes. The field of validity of the methodology and its possible applications to science education are discussed
The Impact of and Lessons Learned from NITARP, the NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program
No full textNITARP, the NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program, gets teachers involved in authentic astronomical research. We partner small groups of educators with a professional astronomer mentor for a year-long original research project. The teams echo the entire research process, from writing a proposal, to doing the research,
to presenting the results at an American Astronomical Society (AAS) meeting. The program runs from January through January. Applications are available annually in May and are due in September. The educators’ experiences color their teaching for years to come, influencing hundreds of students per teacher. This program differs from other programs we know of that get real astronomy data into the classroom in three ways. First, each team works on an original, unique project. There are no canned labs here! Second, each team presents their results in posters in science sessions at an American Astronomical Society meeting alongside other researchers’ work (participants are not given a “free pass” because they are educators or students). Third, the “product” is the scientific result, not any sort of curriculum packet. The teachers adapt their project and their experiences to fit in their classroom environment. NITARP changes the way
teachers think about science and scientists. More information is available online at http://nitarp.ipac.caltech.edu/
A Study on Identifying the Misconceptions of Pre-service and In-service Teachers about Basic Astronomy Concepts
No full textNowadays, the importance given to astronomy teaching in science and physics education has been gradually increasing. At the same time, teachers play an important role in remediating the misconceptions about astronomy concepts held by students. The present study aims to determine the misconceptions of pre-service physics teachers (n=117), pre-service science teachers (n=97) and in-service physics teachers (n=174) about astronomy concepts using a three-tier test. The Astronomy Concept and Achievement Test (ACAT), developed by Trumper (2001a, 2001b, 2006), was adapted as a three-tier instrument and used as the data collection instrument. The first tier, first and second tier and all three tier responses that were obtained from the ACAT were analyzed separately to identify misconceptions and to evaluate the respondents‟ achievement. The results showed that the achievement scores of pre-service and in-service teachers considerably decreased when the third tier was considered. In addition, when the misconceptions of pre-service and in-service teachers were determined using all three tiers, they held extensive misconceptions especially about the reasons for seasons, the Moon‟s phases, the Moon‟s phase in the solar eclipse and the Sun‟s position in the sky
Edible Earth and Space Science Activities
No full textIn this workshop we describe using Earth and Space Science demonstrations with edible ingredients to increase student interest. We show how to use chocolate,
candy, cookies, popcorn, bagels, pastries, Pringles, marshmallows, whipped cream, and Starburst candy for activities such as: plate tectonics, the interior structure of the Earth and Mars, radioactivity/radioactive dating of rocks and stars, formation of the planets, lunar phases, convection, comets, black holes, curvature of space, dark energy, and the expansion of the Universe. In addition to creating an experience that will help students remember specific concepts, edible activities can be used as a formative assessment, providing students with the opportunity to create something that demonstrates their understanding of the model. The students often eat the demonstrations. These demonstrations are an effective teaching tool for all ages, and can be adapted for cultural, culinary, and ethnic differences among the students
Magnetic Mystery Planets
No full textThe magnetic fields of the large terrestrial planets, Venus, Earth, and Mars, are all vastly different from each other. These differences can tell us a lot about the interior structure, interior history, and they can even give us clues to the atmospheric history of these planets. This paper highlights a classroom presentation and accompanying activity that focuses on the differences between the magnetic fields of Venus, Earth, and Mars, what these differences mean, and how we measure these differences. During the activity, students make magnetic field measurements and draw magnetic field lines of “mystery planets” using orbiting “spacecraft” (small compasses). Based on their observations, the students then determine whether they are orbiting Venus-like, Earth-like, or Mars-like planets. This activity is targeted to middle and high school audiences. However, we have also used a scaled-down version with elementary school audiences
Bringing Astronomy Directly to New Audiences (50,000 People) at Outdoor Concerts and Music Festivals
No full textMy NASA-funded Music and Astronomy Under the Stars (MAUS) has brought astronomy to 50,000 music lovers at the National Mall (co-sponsor OSTP); Central Park Jazz, Newport Folk, Ravinia, or Tanglewood music festivals; and classical, folk, pop/rock, opera, Caribbean, or county-western concerts in parks assisted by astronomy clubs (55 events since 2009). Yo-Yo-Ma, the Chicago and Boston Symphony Orchestras, Ravi Coltrane, Esperanza Spalding, Phish, Blood Sweat and Tears, Deep Purple, Tony Orlando, andWilco performed at these events. MAUS combines solar,
optical, and radio telescope observations; large posters/banners (From the Earth to the Universe; Visions of the Universe); videos; hands-on activities (Night Sky Network; Harvard-Smithsonian CfA); imaging with a cell phone mount; and hand-outs (info on science museums, astronomy clubs, and citizen science) before and after the concerts or at intermission. MAUS reached underserved groups and attracted large enthusiastic crowds. Many young children participated in this family learning experience-often the first time they looked through a telescope. Outcomes: While < 50% of the participants
took part in a science museum or activity in the past year (survey result), they found MAUS enjoyable and understandable; learned about astronomy; wanted to learn more; and increased their interest in science (ave. rating 3.6/4). Taking science directly to people is effective in promoting science education
Reading the Sky: From Starspots to Spotting Stars
No full textThis thesis encompasses two research fields in astronomy: astrometry and astronomy education and they are discussed in two parts. These parts represent two sides of a coin; astrometry, which is about constructing 3D representations of the Universe, and AER, where for this thesis, the goal is to investigate university students’ and lecturers’ disciplinary discernment vis-à-vis the structure of the Universe and extrapolating three-dimensionality.
Part I presents an investigation of stellar surface structures influence on ultra-high-precision astrometry. The expected effects in different regions of the HR-diagram were quantified. I also investigated the astrometric effect of exoplanets, since astrometric detection will become possible with projects such as Gaia. Stellar surface structures produce small brightness variations, influencing integrated properties such as the total flux, radial velocity and photocenter position. These properties were modelled and statistical relations between the variations of the different properties were derived. From the models it is clear that for most stellar types the astrometric jitter due to stellar surface structures is expected to be of order 10 μAU or greater. This is more than the astrometric displacement typically caused by an Earth-sized exoplanet in the habitable zone, which is about 1–4 μAU, making astrometric detection difficult.
Part II presents an investigation of disciplinary discernment at the university level. Astronomy education is a particularly challenging experience for students because discernment of the ‘real’ Universe is problematic, making interpretation of the many disciplinary-specific representations used an important educational issue. The ability to ‘fluently’ discern the disciplinary affordances of these representations becomes crucial for the effective learning of astronomy. To understand the Universe I conclude that specific experiences are called. Simulations could offer these experiences, where parallax motion is a crucial component. In a qualitative study, I have analysed students’ and lecturers’ discernment while watching a simulation video, and found hierarchies that characterize the discernment in terms of three-dimensionality extrapolation and an Anatomy of Disciplinary Discernment. I combined these to define a new construct: Reading the Sky. I conclude that this is a vital competency needed for learning astronomy and suggest strategies for how to implement this in astronomy education
Comparison of student learning about space in immersive and computer environments
No full textThis paper is the summary of the external evaluation of We Choose Space, a 24-minute planetarium show for audiences “who dream of space and wonder about human spaceflight after Shuttle,” in which we compared the student learning about space in digital and computer environments immediately afterwards and six weeks later. Paired t-tests and an independent t-test were used to compare the amount of learning that students achieved on the questionnaire. Interest questionnaires were administered to participants in formal (public school) settings and focus groups were conducted in informal (museum camp and educational festival) settings. Overall results from the informal and formal educational setting indicated that there was a statistically significant increase in test scores after viewing We Choose Space in both the portable Discovery Dome (9.75) as well as via the computer (8.88), when tested immediately after viewing. Most importantly, however, long-term retention of the material tested on the questionnaire was significantly better for the students who viewed it in the portable dome over those who learned by computer. Six weeks after viewing the content, the Dome students retained their gains in test scores (10.47), whereas computer-using students had lost most of their gain (3.49), and the improvements over the initial baseline for the computer learners were not statistically significant
Writing Effective Online Homework Questions for Astro 101
No full textThe online environment provides benefits and limitations to the scope and implementation of homework questions. In this session we discussed this topic, as well as the methodology used to write effective computer-graded online homework questions, specifically discussing targeted feedback and randomization. I demonstrated a few existing online astronomy questions and then workshop participants worked in groups to write their own questions. We concluded with a discussion of effective strategies for writing online homework questions. We focused on developing and writing questions within an environment that includes randomization and targeted feedback, similar to Sapling Learning, Mastering Astronomy, and WebAssign. The online environment provides benefits and limitations to the scope and implementation of homework questions. In this session we discussed this topic, as well as the methodology used to write effective computer-graded online homework questions, specifically discussing targeted feedback and randomization. I demonstrated a few existing online astronomy questions and then workshop participants worked in groups to write their own questions. We concluded with a discussion of effective strategies for writing online homework questions. We focused on developing and writing
questions within an environment that includes randomization and targeted feedback, similar to Sapling Learning, Mastering Astronomy, and WebAssign