iStarDB (The Astronomy Education Research Repository)
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Informal Science Educators’ Pedagogical Choices and Goals for Learners: The Case of Planetarium Professionals
No full textThis study extends our understanding of the goals, beliefs, and pedagogical choices made by planetarium professionals. Interviews were conducted with planetarium professionals (N 1⁄4 36) to assess their goals for audiences and beliefs about the design of the learning environment. Classification of participants, according to a six-facet framework on effective learning environment design, suggests a range of perspectives on the design of the learning environment that primarily include learner-centered, motivationally-oriented, socioculturally- centered, and physically-oriented perspectives. Results also point to the importance of considering increased opportunities for professionalism in the field of planetarium education
Using the Big Ideas in Cosmology to Teach College Students
No full textRecent advances in our understanding of the Universe have revolutionized our view of its structure, composition and evolution. However, these new ideas have not necessarily been used to improve the teaching of introductory astronomy students. In this project, we have conducted research into student understanding of cosmological ideas so as to develop effective web-based tools to teach basic concepts important to modern cosmology. The tools are intended for use at the introductory college level. Our research uses several instruments, including open-ended and multiple choice surveys conducted at multiple institutions, as well as interviews and course artifacts at one institution, to ascertain what students know regarding modern cosmological ideas, what common misunderstandings and misconceptions they entertain, and what sorts of materials can most effectively overcome students’ difficulty in learning this material. These
data are being used to create a suite of interactive, web-based tutorials that address the major ideas in cosmology. One common misconception that students in our introductory
courses possess is that scientific explanations are “made up,” and not supported by observational data. Having students engage with real data is a powerful means to help
students overcome this misconception. For this reason, the tutorials we are developing include authentic student interaction with actual data where possible. Students master the scientific concepts and reasoning processes that lead to our current understanding of the Universe through interactive tasks, prediction, reflection, experimentation, and model building. This workshop will demonstrate the use of some of the modules we
have created and will allow participants to test the modules for themselves
Establishing The Empirical Relationship Between Non-Science Majoring Undergraduate Learners’ Spatial Thinking Skills And Their Conceptual Astronomy Knowledge
No full textThe astronomy education community has tacitly assumed that learning astronomy is a conceptual domain resting upon spatial thinking skills. As a first step to formally identify an empirical relationship, undergraduate students in a non-major introductory astronomy survey class at a mediumsized, Ph.D. granting, mid-western US university were given pre- and post-astronomy conceptual
diagnostics and spatial reasoning diagnostics, instruments used were the “Test Of Astronomy Standards”
and “What Do You Know?” Using only fully matched data for analysis, our sample consisted of 86 undergraduate non-science majors. Students’ normalized gains for astronomy surveys were low at .26 and .13 respectively. Students’ spatial thinking was measured using an instrument designed specifically for this study. Correlations between the astronomy instruments’ pre- to post-course gain scores and the spatial assessment instrument show moderate to strong relationships suggesting the relationship between spatial reasoning and astronomy ability can explain about 25% of the variation in student achievement
On The Formation Of A Study Group To The Realization Of Workshops For Teachers: Astronomy In Basic Education In Umuarama-PR
No full textIn this article, we aimed to present the activities developed by the Astronomy Study Group (ASG) to contribute to the dissemination and improvement of the astronomy teaching-learning. The results of a research carried out in schools of Umuarama-PR are shown, with the intention of checking the students’ knowledge and interest in relation to Astronomy. It is reported the realization of workshops for Science teachers linked to the Education Regional Nucleus. The research and the workshop execution promoted the direct contact of the study group with the community; the results were used to diagnose the state of astronomy teaching-learning, in the basic education in Umuarama-PR
Conception et évaluation d’une intervention didactique à propos des phases de la Lune dans un planétarium numérique
No full textSince the Quebec Education Program came into effect in 2001, Quebec classrooms have again been teaching astronomy. Unfortunately, schools are ill-equipped to teach complex astronomical concepts, most of which occur outside school hours and over long periods of time. Furthermore, many astronomical phenomena involve celestial objects travelling through three-dimensional space, which we cannot access from our geocentric point of view. The lunar phases, a concept prescribed in secondary cycle one, fall into that category. Fortunately, schools can count on support from the planetarium, a science museum dedicated to presenting ultra-realistic simulations of astronomical phenomena in fast time and at any hour of the day. But what type of planetarium will support schools? Recently, planetariums also underwent their own revolution: they switched from analogue to digital, replacing geocentric opto-mechanical projectors with video projectors that offer the possibility of travelling virtually through a completely immersive simulation of the three-dimensional Universe. Although research into planetarium education has focused little on this new paradigm, certain of its conclusions, based on the study of analogue planetariums, can help us develop a rewarding teaching intervention in these new digital simulators. But other sources of inspiration will be cited, primarily the teaching of science, which views learning no longer as the transfer of knowledge, but rather as the construction of knowledge by the learners themselves, with and against their initial conceptions. The conception and use of constructivist learning environments, of which the digital planetarium is a fine example, and the use of simulations in astronomy will complete our theoretical framework and lead to the conception of a teaching intervention focusing on the lunar phases in a digital planetarium and targeting students aged 12 to 14. This teaching intervention was initially tested as part of development research (didactic engineering) aimed at improving it, both theoretically and practically, through multiple iterations in its “natural” environment, in this case an inflatable digital planetarium vi six metres in diameter. We are presenting the results of our first iteration, completed with help from six children aged 12 to 14 (four boys and two girls) whose conceptions about the lunar phases were noted before, during and after the intervention through group interviews, questionnaires, group exercises and recordings of the interventions throughout the activity. The evaluation was essentially qualitative, based on the traces obtained throughout the session, in particular within the planetarium itself. This material was then analyzed to validate the theoretical concepts that led to the conception of the teaching intervention and also to reveal possible ways to improve the intervention. We noted that the intervention indeed changed most participants’ conceptions about the lunar phases, but also identified ways to boost its effectiveness in the future
Increasing Student Participation in Online Group Discussions Via Facebook
No full textA comparison study between two different methods of conducting online discussions in an introductory astronomy course was performed to determine if the use of Facebook as an online discussion tool has an impact on student participation as well as student response time. This study shows that students using Facebook for their online discussions participated more frequently and responded more quickly than students using a traditional online discussion forum
Astro 101 Students' Perceptions of Science: Results from the Thinking About Science Survey Instrument
No full textWhat are the underlying worldviews and beliefs about the role of science in society held by students enrolled in a college-level, general education, introductory astronomy course (Astro 101)—and are those beliefs affected by active engagement instruction shown to significantly increase students' conceptual knowledge and reasoning abilities related to astronomy? To help answer this question, we administered Cobern's (Cobern 2001) Thinking About Science Survey Instrument (TSSI) to an Astro 101 class in the spring 2011. The TSSI probes students' beliefs about the relationship between science and many aspects of contemporary society. In this paper, we analyze the 442 pre-instruction and 294 post-instruction student responses we received to the TSSI. Many students select responses to the TSSI's items indicating they have positive views about the role of science in society. We also see a slight increase in the number of positive responses pre- to post-instruction. While there are limitations to the inferences one can draw from responses to a Likert scale survey such as the TSSI, this work nevertheless provides an important first step in a larger project to understand and affect the worldviews of general education, introductory astronomy students. To better interpret the significance of these results, we conclude by comparing the TSSI data to preliminary data from a related study in which we collected students' written responses to a series of provocative, open-ended prompts on the relationship between science and society
The Effects of Blogging and Podcasting on Student Achievement and Attitude in the Sixth Grade Science Classroom
No full textThis action research-based project was conducted to determine the effects of blogging and podcasting on student achievement and attitudes in a sixth grade Earth science classroom. Various blogging and podcasting opportunities were provided. Assessment scores were used to determine their effect on student achievement and attitudes. The research indicated that while blogging and podcasting foster a positive student attitude, they do not increase assessment scores
Early Childhood Learning in Preschool Planetarium Programs
No full textFamily groups comprise a significant percentage of the museum visitor population, and many programs are created specifically for young learners (Borun, 2008). One such learning environment is that of planetaria, where both live and pre-recorded programs are presented to introduce concepts in Earth and Space Science to young children. Pacific Science Center's Preschool Trip to the Moon live, interactive planetarium program was used as a context for exploring families' motivations for attending a planetarium show, their reactions to the show, and in particular what children learned from the show. Methods included adult questionnaires and child interviews. Adult motivation for attending the program was largely due to their own interest in astronomy or their desire for their child to be interested in astronomy, not because the child was already interested in the subject. Children expressed an interest in returning to the planetarium in the future, and many identified several features of the program that they enjoyed. Results pertaining to what children learned suggested a range of outcomes that were behavioral, observational, and conceptual. Future planetarium programming should incorporate support for adults in rooting this interest through informal education led by the adult
Processing Color in Astronomical Imagery
No full textEvery year, hundreds of images from telescopes on the ground and in space are released to the public, making their way into popular culture through everything from computer screens to postage stamps. Most astronomical images are natively digital, with their data traveling from telescopes to scientists as a series of ones and zeroes and with tens and even hundreds of terabytes of data available from a single observatory archive (Brunner, 2001). These data span the entire electromagnetic spectrum from radio waves to infrared light to X-rays and gamma rays – a majority of which is undetectable to the human eye without technology. Once these data are collected, one or more specialists (scientists and other professionals) must process the data to create an image. Therefore, the creation of astronomical imagery involves a series of choices. How do these choices affect the comprehension of the science behind the images? What is the best way to represent data to a non-expert? Should these choices be based on aesthetics, scientific veracity, or is it possible to satisfy both? This paper reviews just one choice out of the many made by astronomical image processors: color. The choice of color is one of the most fundamental when creating an image taken with modern telescopes. We briefly explore the concept of the image as translation, particularly in the case of astronomical images from invisible portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. After placing modern astronomical imagery and photography in general in the context of its historical beginnings, we review the standards (or lack thereof) in making the basic choice of color. We discuss the possible implications for selecting one color palette over another in the context of the appropriateness of using these images as science communication products with a specific focus on how the non-expert perceives these images and how that affects their trust in science. Finally, we share new data sets that begin to look at these issues in scholarly research and discuss the need for a more robust examination of this and other related topics in the future to better understand the implications for science communications