iStarDB (The Astronomy Education Research Repository)
Not a member yet
2071 research outputs found
Sort by
The Development of Astronomy Concept Test for Determining Preservice Science Teachers’ Misconceptions About Astronomy
No full textAstronomy is fairly a new course for preservice science teachers in Turkey. Regardless of many science courses taken, preservice science teachers hold several misconceptions about astronomy. It is essential to find out those misconceptions to facilitate astronomy teaching. The aim of this study is to develop a new astronomy instrument specifically related to the topics of grade 4 through grade 8. The main reason for that is to find out preservice science teachers’ astronomy misconceptions
specifically related to these topics. Preservice science teachers wrote journals after each astronomy class during a semester and the test has been developed mainly based on these journals. After a pilot study, the instrument had reduced to 18 items. The cronbach alpha value determined as 0.71 for the main study. Data analyses showed that preservice science teachers hold several misconceptions
about astronomy. The instrument is a multiple choice test, but in addition participants asked to state if they were sure or not sure of their answers at the end of each question. Results showed that the majority of preservice science teachers that gave correct answers were not sure of their answers
Multiple Choice Testing for Introductory Astronomy: Design Theory Using Bloom's Taxonomy
No full textProfessors who teach introductory astronomy to students not majoring in science desire them to comprehend the concepts and theories that form the basis of the science. They are usually less concerned about the myriad of detailed facts and information that accompanies the science. As such, professors prefer to test the students for such comprehension. The multiple choice format for examinations is often excluded since it appears to focus only upon factual information. This paper proposes to show that the multiple choice format can be used to create non-trivial examinations that test for higher-order thinking. The paper shows, with numerous examples, how to design such questions within the didactic framework of Bloom's taxonomy. Following a discussion of how the taxonomy relates to goals and objectives in teaching astronomy, the paper proceeds to focus upon each of the taxonomic categories with examples of sophisticated questions about specific astronomical concepts. The goal is to explicate the design theory so that instructors can create unlimited numbers of questions for their own courses. As such, it is not a research paper but, rather, one to provide working instructors with helpful hints for improving their testing. Included at the end of the paper is an algorithm for the construction of a grade curve, and some discussion of using the statistical analysis of the examination questions to evaluate the performance of individual students and to improve the test questions themselves
An Ongoing Investigation of Science Literacy: Results of a 22-Year Study Probing Students’ Knowledge and Attitude Towards Science
No full textThis talk presents findings related to our ongoing work investigating students’ knowledge and attitudes towards science and technology. We present an overview of research studies and findings including a comparison of the science literacy measures of University of Arizona students compared to national studies, conceptions related to astrology, views of radiation, and students’ pseudoscience and religious beliefs. We discuss implications for instructors and researchers interested in improving students’ science literacy scores and diagnosing alternative beliefs
Understanding and affecting science teacher candidates’ scientific reasoning in introductory astrophysics
No full textThis study reports on a content course for science immersion teacher candidates that emphasized authentic practice of science and thinking scientifically in the context of introductory astrophysics. We explore how 122 science teacher candidates spanning three cohorts did and did not reason scientifically and how this evolved in our program. Our primary method of exploring teacher candidate reasoning is through analysis of responses to an apparently simple multiple-choice question. The question asks for the relative motion between the Sun and Earth and then for a scientific argument supporting the response. To explore these participants’ reasoning and its potential impact on classroom practice, we also describe qualitative observations of how the teacher candidates were reasoning while participating in a science course, participant evaluations, and long-term follow-up with select program graduates after they had taught science in middle or high school. Our results suggest that participant ability to reason scientifically improved significantly and that this can impact classroom practice in a positive way
Development of Astronomy Educational Resources: the Case of Universe Awareness
No full textIn this thesis we will study astronomy as a means to spread science education. Moreover, we will illustrate how the popularisation of science, especially if introduced during childhood, plays an important role in improving the quality of life of the individual and the growth of the society in the long run, in particular for developing countries. Specically, we will discuss an international astronomy education and outreach programme: Universe Awareness - UNAWE. This programme, which has been approved by the International Astronomical Union, involves over 50 countries and has more than 800 collaborators, including astronomer educators and teachers. UNAWE deals with popularising astronomy and scientic thinking, through activities aimed at teachers and children aged 4 to 10, focusing especially on those from disadvantaged backgrounds. In this thesis we present the scientic basis that supports the UNAWE project, and examine the means and goals of the programme. We will in particular focus on the collection, production, review and distribution of high quality astronomy educational material. We will explain how UNAWE has chosen to use Open Educational Resources with the aim of reaching a broader audience, while increasing the quality of developed activities. Indeed, the scientic and pedagogical quality of UNAWE activities is guaranteed thanks to a peer-review process, in which both astronomer and educator are involved. In addition, we will discuss the new and unprecedented online UNAWE platform, which has been created to respond to problems related to the research of material on the web, and also to ensure the quality of this material while keeping it constantly updated. Finally, we contextualise the evaluation programme performed by UNAWE, which is of fundamental importance to assess the eectiveness of the proposed educational activities. We will conclude with some ideas for assessing the impact and the long-term importance of the UNAWE project
Apparent Motion Of The Sun, Shadows Of Objects And Measurement Of Time In The View Of Seventh Grade Students Of Middle School
No full textThe apparent motion of the Sun on the celestial sphere and the behavior of the shadows of objects over time are observable phenomena in everyday life. However, students often do not have a proper understanding of such occurrences, and can even display misconceptions about them. Therefore, we performed a research in order to know students' notions about these subjects and to evaluate the contribution to their understanding brought about by an activity performed with an interactive sundial in an informal learning environment. We investigated the ideas of 43 students from the seventh grade of middle school by applying a test with open questions before and after an activity with an analemmatic sundial, conducted by a monitor. A significant proportion of students were initially unaware of most of the phenomena treated. The intervention performed helped the students to assimilate new concepts, providing the contact with new phenomena and to a lesser degree, the development of explanations about them, indicating an educational potential of this action. However, the contribution to the understanding of
some of the ideas explored was small, pointing to the need to make additional observations, studies and discussions
Lunar Phases And Earthly Events: Beliefs From Different Education Levels
No full textThis article presents the result of a research carried out in the first semester of 2013 with a group of 80 subjects from different education levels. In this research, we sought to investigate the earthly events that this group of people attributes to the phenomenon of lunar phases. For data collection we used semi-structured interviews guided by questions that aimed to keep the focus on subjects of the investigation. Interviews were recorded and transcribed, and the results were compared to scientific studies in the area after being quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed. Research data showed that the Moon and the phenomenon of lunar phases still fascinate and raise the interest of people. However, the lack of knowledge to find correct explanations to the phenomena involving the moon ends up originating a series of beliefs about its influence on earthly events
The Determination of Children’s Knowledge of Global Lunar Patterns from Online Essays Using Text Mining Analysis
No full textThe purpose of this study was to use text mining analysis of early adolescents’ online essays to determine their knowledge of global lunar patterns. Australian and American students in grades five to seven wrote about global lunar patterns they had discovered by sharing observations with each other via the Internet. These essays were analyzed for the students’ inclusion of words associated with the shape (i.e., phase), orientation and location of the Moon along with words about similarities and differences. Almost all students wrote about shape but fewer wrote about orientation or location. Students infrequently included words about similarities or differences in the same sentence with shape, orientation or location. Similar to studies about children’s and adults’ lunar misconceptions, it was found that male and female early adolescents also lacked a robust understanding of global lunar patterns
Mountains of Controversy: Narrative and the Making of Contested Landscapes in Postwar American Astronomy
No full textBeginning in the second half of the twentieth century, three American astronomical observatories in Arizona and Hawai’i were transformed from scientific research facilities into mountains of controversy. This dissertation examines the histories of conflict between Native, environmentalist, and astronomy communities over telescope construction at Kitt Peak, Mauna Kea, and Mt. Graham from the mid-1970s to the present. I situate each history of conflict within shifting social, cultural, political, and environmental tensions by drawing upon narrative as a category of analysis. Astronomers, environmentalist groups, and the Native communities of the
Tohono O’odham Nation, the San Carlos Apaches, and Native Hawaiians deployed competing cultural constructions of the mountains—as an ideal observing site, a “pristine” ecosystem, or a
spiritual temple—and these narratives played a pivotal role in the making of contested landscapes in postwar American astronomy.
I argue that anti-observatory narratives depicting telescope construction as a threat to the ecological and spiritual integrity of the mountains were historically tethered to the rise of environmental and indigenous rights movements in the United States. Competing narratives about the mountains’ significance were politically mobilized to gain legal and moral standing, and I interrogate the historical production of these narratives to gain insight into the dynamics of power in these controversies. By examining the use and consequences of narratives, I establish that the grassroots
telescope opposition is representative of a highly influential participant in postwar Big Science: the vocal nonscientific community that objects to scientific practice done in its backyard.
Marshaling divergent narratives has profoundly constricted both scientific and religious uses of the mountains, resulting in the loss of telescope projects and the increasing bureaucratization of prayer activities at the summit.
Finally, I adapt Peter Galison’s concept of “trading zones” as regions of local coordination between two disparate scientific cultures to encompass the cultural worlds of scientists and nonscientists involved in the observatory debates. Through the social and
material exchange of mutually understood concepts, some Native and scientific communities established fruitful communication and collaboration, but I argue that these trading zones have also effectively dissolved and homogenized the distinct cultural identities of both communities
Astronomy Exercises for the Artist: van Gogh the Observer
No full textWe present a set of exercises designed to be used in a survey astronomy course, an introductory astronomy laboratory course, or in secondary education. The exercises use the great works of Vincent van Gogh but could be easily extended to other works of art. We also include a brief description of our current practices, lectures, and group questions as examples of material that should be discussed prior to use of these “AstroArt” exercises