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August 2008

Volume 7, Issue 2, pp. 1-180

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Development and Application of a Situated Apprenticeship Approach to Professional Development of Astronomy Instructors

Edward E. Prather and Gina Brissenden

2008, AER, 7 (2), 1, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/AER2008016

Online Publication Date: 22 December 2008

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Professional development for astronomy instructors largely focuses on enhancing their understanding of the limitations of professor-centered lectures while also increasing awareness and better implementation of learning strategies that promote a learner-centered classroom environment. Given how difficult it is to get instructors to implement well-developed and innovative teaching ideas, even when these instructors are supplied with significant and compelling education research data, one must wonder what is missing from the most commonly used professional development experiences. This article proposes a learner-centered approach to professional development for college instructors, which we call situated apprenticeship. This novel approach purposely goes beyond simple awareness building and conventional modeling, challenging instructors to actively engage themselves in practicing teaching strategies in an environment of peer review in which participants offer suggestions and critiques of each other’s implementation. Through this learner-centered teaching and evaluation experience, instructors’ preexisting conceptual and pedagogical understandings of a particular instructional strategy are brought forth and examined in an effort to promote a real change of practice that positively impacts both their core pedagogical content knowledge and their skills in successfully implementing these teaching strategies. We believe that the adoption of our situated apprenticeship approach for professional development will increase the frequency and success of college instructors’ implementation of research-validated instructional strategies for interactive learning.
Show PACS
01.40.-d Education
01.40.gb Teaching methods and strategies

Grade 9 Astronomy Study: Interests of Boys and Girls Studying Astronomy at Fletcher’s Meadow Secondary School

Mirjan Krstovic, Laura Brown, Merin Chacko, and Brenda Trinh

2008, AER, 7 (2), 18, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/AER2008017 | Cited 1 time

Online Publication Date: 22 October 2008

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In this report, we discuss the interests of Grade 9 boys and girls studying astronomy at Fletcher’s Meadow Secondary School in Brampton, Ontario. A total of 152 Grade 9 academic students were asked to rate their interest levels in various astronomy topics on a scale of 0–3, where 0 represented no interest and 3 represented a high level of interest. We also asked the students to rate all the in-class activities on the same scale. Our analysis of the data suggests that there are many similarities in interest levels in various astronomy topics between boys and girls. In addition, boys and girls expressed similar preferences for in-class astronomy activities with only minor differences, suggesting similar learning styles in astronomy for boys and girls at the Grade 9 level.
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01.40.ek Secondary school
01.40.-d Education
01.40.G- Curricula and evaluation
01.50.Pa Laboratory experiments and apparatus
01.40.gb Teaching methods and strategies

How Do Preservice Teachers’ Religious Beliefs Affect Their Understanding of Astronomy?

Jesus Rodrigo F. Torres

2008, AER, 7 (2), 25, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/AER2008018

Online Publication Date: 27 October 2008

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This article describes research on conceptions of preservice science teachers in their fourth year of undergraduate studies relating to: whether Earth is the center of the Universe; whether the sky is a literal vault or dome; whether Earth is flat or round; the timeline of the formation of the Universe; and the age of the Earth. The results, which indicate that religion has a strong influence on teachers’ astronomical beliefs, are quite startling and potentially helpful to professors of astronomy who have an opportunity to correct preservice teachers’ misconceptions before these teachers go into the field.
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01.40.G- Curricula and evaluation
01.40.Di Course design and evaluation
01.70.+w Philosophy of science
01.40.J- Teacher training
01.40.gb Teaching methods and strategies

Impact of Modifying Activity-Based Instructional Materials for Special Needs Students in Middle School Astronomy

Julia K. Olsen and Timothy F. Slater

2008, AER, 7 (2), 40, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/AER2008019

Online Publication Date: 26 November 2008

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Middle school students who have special needs because they are learning disabled require targeted attention in our nation’s pursuit of improved science achievement for all students. In early 2006, the Lawrence Hall of Science conducted a national field test of a newly developed GEMS (Great Explorations in Math and Science) space science curriculum package for middle school students. During this field testing, we modified a subset of the curriculum materials to reflect the principles of best practices in working with special needs students, specifically learning disabled students, in a subset of the field test classrooms to determine if these students scored differently on the assessments than students in the larger assessment database. Results suggest that many students, not just those with special needs, demonstrate achievement gains using instructional materials purposefully aligned with research-informed principles of best practices for special needs students.
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01.40.ek Secondary school
01.40.eg Elementary school
01.50.-i Educational aids
01.40.Fk Research in physics education
01.40.gb Teaching methods and strategies

Regulations and Ethical Considerations for Astronomy Education Research III: A Suggested Code of Ethics

Erik Brogt, Tom Foster, Erin Dokter, Sanlyn Buxner, and Jessie Antonellis

2008, AER, 7 (2), 57, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/AER2008020 | Cited 2 times

Online Publication Date: 11 November 2008

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We present an argument for, and suggested implementation of, a code of ethics for the astronomy education research community. This code of ethics is based on legal and ethical considerations set forth by U.S. federal regulations and the existing code of conduct of the American Educational Research Association. We also provide a fictitious research study as an example for working through the suggested code of ethics.
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01.40.Fk Research in physics education

Effect of Night Laboratories on Learning Objectives for a Nonmajor Astronomy Class

Ian C. Jacobi, Heidi Jo Newberg, Darren Broder, Rose A. Finn, Anthony J. Milano, Lee A. Newberg, Allan T. Weatherwax, and Douglas C. B. Whittet

2008, AER, 7 (2), 66, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/AER2008021 | Cited 1 time

Online Publication Date: 16 December 2008

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We tested the effectiveness of hands-on nighttime laboratories that challenged student misconceptions, using a new assessment exam to measure learning in a nonmajor introductory astronomy class at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. We were able to increase learning at the 8.0 sigma level on one of the Moon phase objectives that was addressed in a cloudy night activity. There is weak evidence of some improvement on a broader range of learning objectives. We show evidence that the overall achievement levels of the four sections of the class are correlated with how much clear weather the sections had for observing even though the learning objectives were addressed primarily in activities that did not require clear skies. We describe our first attempt to cycle the students through different activity stations in an effort to handle 18 students at a time in the laboratories, and the lessons we learned from this.
Show PACS
01.40.G- Curricula and evaluation
01.40.-d Education
01.50.Pa Laboratory experiments and apparatus
01.40.Fk Research in physics education
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