Investigating Student Understanding of the Universe: Perceptions of Astronomical Sizes and Distances

Details Investigating Student Understanding of the Universe: Perceptions of Astronomical Sizes and Distances Investigating Student Understanding of the Universe: Perceptions of Astronomical Sizes and Distances

May 2011

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011aas...21833305c&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #218, #333.05; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 43, 2011

Computer Science

Learning

Scientific paper

Student perceptions regarding astronomical sizes and distances are being analyzed for Chicago State University's Basic Astronomy course. This area is of great interest to further understand the students’ learning processes and to produce more effective instruction. Insights from cognitive psychology have shown that perceptions are related to prior experiences and current knowledge. Students enter into this course with different mental representations, and these representations can affect their learning. Through a repeated measures design, perceptions are analyzed through several instruments. The instruments implemented are pre-tests surveys (before lab), exams (after lab), lab comments, and interviews. Preliminary analysis reveals that students who have difficulty with astronomical sizes and distances have been more strongly influenced by culture and the media whereas those who had less difficulty expanded on their personal prior experiences. This project is part of a larger study; also see our posters on the structure of the universe, dark matter, the age and expansion of the universe. This work was supported by NASA ROSES E/PO Grant #NNXlOAC89G, as well as by the Illinois Space Grant Consortium and National Science Foundation CCLI Grant #0632563 at Chicago State University and the Fermi E/PO program at Sonoma State University.

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