Shaw-IAU Workshops by the OAE

This research aims to determine the misconceptions of secondary school students about astronomy topics. A total of 119 students from private and public schools participated in this study while an astronomy achievement test was applied to 12th grade students. According to the analyses, misconceptions were found in some questions. The 12th grade students' level of understanding of basic astronomical concepts appears to be low. No statistically significant difference was found between male and female students in terms of the level of understanding astronomy concepts. The private school was observed as the institution with a low rate of success. These results show the difficulties in students' ability to understand and apply certain concepts related to astronomy in science education.

Biography:

She studied undergraduate education at Istanbul University Science Faculty Astronomy and Space Sciences Department. During her PhD, she made observational studies on the properties of metallic Am stars as a visiting researcher at The Citadel University in Charleston, South Carolina, USA and completed her PhD in 2009. She is currently an Assistant Professor at the Department of Physics in İstanbul Kultur University. She studies stellar atmospheres, peculiar stars and chemical abundances. In addition to her scientific research and administrative duties at the university, she is engaged in activities and projects to popularize science through astronomy education and astronomy. She is NAEC Türkiye chair and contact person.