Shaw-IAU Workshops by the OAE

This session will focus on the methodology and frameworks that are used in Astronomy Education Research. The session will also incorporate research into astronomy learning, teaching, and knowledge creation in astronomy, drawing connections to education, cognitive science, neuroscience and psychometrics.

Schedule

• Astronomical Concepts in Mind: A Psycholinguistic Perspective on Astronomy Learning and Teaching

  Languages possess unique features for representing scientific concepts, and these concepts are expressed and understood differently across various languages. Using a psycholinguistic approach, teachers and researchers can assess the interplay between mental representations and linguistic expression in both formal and informal educational settings. I will highlight the importance of metaphor, analogical reasoning, and linguistic precision in enhancing conceptual grasp. For instance, the use of metaphors like "stellar nurseries" to describe star formation and analogies such as comparing the solar system to a classroom model helps learners grasp complex ideas. These insights contribute to developing more effective educational practices, benefiting astronomy educators and learners alike.

  

  Saeed Jafari (University of Kurdistan, Department of Linguistics / UNESCO's IDIL2022-2032)

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• Exploring Astronomy Education Trends: A Machine Learning-Based Review of RELEA

  This work reviews the Revista Latino-Americana de Educação em Astronomia (RELEA), using machine learning to analyze published articles. It quantifies the journal’s output, considering its multilingual contributions in Portuguese, Spanish, and English. By applying computational methods, the study identifies thematic trends in astronomy education across Latin America and how these themes have evolved. Additionally, it addresses the research gap in regional astronomy education, offering insights to guide future educational and research efforts. The findings highlight RELEA’s role in promoting scientific literacy and astronomy education in diverse cultural contexts.

  

  Erick Ghuron (Programa de Pós-Graduação Interunidades em Ensino de Ciências - Universidade de São Paulo)

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• The impact of questions on students’ estimations of astronomical sizes and distances

  Literature shows that students have a hard time making estimations of astronomical scales, and very often underestimate the vastness of space. In this research, we constructed and deployed an interactive online survey to probe students’ ideas of sizes and distances in the Solar System. It was found that the relative distances between celestial bodies were strongly underestimated overall, while the same did not hold for the relative sizes of those bodies. Moreover, as we used two different formulations to question student estimations, a systematic impact of the type of question on the magnitude of the answers was uncovered. Lastly, we also had students (dis)agree with a customized visualization and self-assess their certainty after every answer. Our findings will be discussed.

  

  Willem Keppens (KU Leuven)

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• Framework for the use of the celestial sphere as an educational tool

  Explaining the apparent motion of the Sun and stars is challenging for students. To help students reason about it and support them in switching between different perspectives, educators use various representations of the celestial sphere (e.g., the planetarium or a celestial globe). However, we suspect that students (and perhaps educators) may not fully grasp the underlying model of the (representations of the) celestial sphere, as well as its possibilities and limitations. This lack of understanding can lead to misinterpretations or overgeneralizations. As a first step in studying students’ understanding of the celestial sphere, we constructed a framework to categorize different representations of the celestial sphere model according to the perspectives and reference frames they use.

  

  Judith Vandewiere (KU Leuven)

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• Innovation in Astronomy Teaching: A Study of Astronomical Peripateticism and the Flipped Classroom

  This study explores the effectiveness of Astronomical Peripateticism combined with the Flipped Classroom methodology in teaching astronomy. Through workshops and night observations, students acquire theoretical knowledge at home and apply it in practical outdoor sessions. The research focuses on how this methodology enhances the understanding of astronomical concepts and fosters a personal connection with the universe. Preliminary results indicate a significant increase in student engagement and interest, as well as their ability to apply theoretical knowledge in practical contexts.

  

  José Antonio D'Santiago García (Universidad Nacional Experimental Rafael María Baralt)

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• Insights into Scientist Teacher Partnerships During the Creation of Exoplanet Science Lessons

  Including contemporary science research in the classroom can help students to understand the scientific landscape. One method of introducing cutting-edge topics into schools is Scientist Teachers Partnerships (STPs); using the input of both parties to create scientifically and pedagogically sound materials. In this study, we use STPs to develop lessons about Exoplanet climates. One-on-one initial interviews were conducted with 13 international exoplanet PhD students and five science teachers from Flanders. Co-creation sessions were then conducted with groups of teachers and scientists. We use thematic network analysis to assess how information and ideas are transformed throughout this process, shedding light on the methods and benefits of STPs.

  

  Oriel Marshall (Universities of Copenhagen and Antwerp)

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Posters

• CHALLENGES FOR TEACHER AUTONOMY IN ASTRONOMY TEACHING: A STUDY UNDER THE ERATOSTHENES BRAZIL PROJECT

  João Pedro Bertonha Lombardi (Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho")

  Research indicates that initial teacher formation rarely deals adequately with astronomy, limiting their autonomy to teach the subject, despite the literature justifying its importance. In this context, the Eratosthenes Brazil Project offers formative episodes focused on practical activities for calculating the Earth's circumference. However, teacher autonomy for investigative practices in astronomy still faces significant obstacles. This research aims to explore these difficulties, focusing on the autonomy of the teachers registered in the project, through a qualitative study that includes content analysis of the records of remote meetings. As a result, the corpus analysis revealed three categories of initial obstacles: digital tools, practical implementation and school collaboration.

• Clarifying Uncertainty in the Nature of Science through Astronomy examples

  Jakub Stepanovic (KU Leuven; LUCA School of Arts)

  The Nature of Science (NoS) (Lederman et al., 2002) includes several aspects, but uncertainty is usually not mentioned explicitly. Yet, uncertainty is inevitable in astronomy and science in general. Uncertainty is a driving force for curiosity, reducing uncertainty is a crucial challenge in instrument development, reporting uncertainty is expected and necessary in the academic community. Moreover, honest and accurately portraying uncertainty in education and science communication is needed to uphold scientific transparency and credibility. As such, our study examines the elements of NoS to clarify and define uncertainty among them, supported by examples from astronomy. We will conclude with recommendations for astronomy instruction.

• Continuing Teacher Education: the comets as an pedagogical strategy to the teaching Astronomy

  Jaqueline de Souza Valdemiro Campos (Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho")

  The Astronomy teaching needs to be sensitive to the needs of teachers, encouraging and adding to their routines and pedagogical practices. The comet is a potential interdisciplinary approach to insert Astronomy concepts. The development of concept through workshops and virtuals simulator contributed significantly to the construction of teacher knowledge in a continuing teacher training through of the D. Shön's practical-reflective, J. Dewey's progressive education and D. Ausubel's meaningful learning. The Bardin's Content Analysis revealed that training centered on a single topic favors the teacher's teaching and learning process. Teachers demonstrated a change in their pedagogical, professional practice and motivational like a research news themes and use a new teaching tools.

• Cultural Astronomy: Transformative Potential in Basic Education

  Enrico Chiosini (Master student on Programa de Pós-Graduação Interunidades em Ensino de Ciências)

  Cultural Astronomy examines how different cultures interpret and integrate celestial knowledge into their social systems, revealing a rich diversity that is often overlooked in traditional education. By analyzing the relationship between education and culture and considering legal measures that promote multicultural education, we explore the challenges of assimilationist and differentialist perspectives. This research underscores the transformative potential of Cultural Astronomy in basic education, encouraging deeper cultural awareness, critical thinking, and a more inclusive understanding of science, enriching students' worldviews and preparing them for life in a multicultural society.

• Investigating the efficacy of Experiential learning through Observatory Internship for studying Astr

  ANNAL DEVA PRIYA DARSHINI Chandrsekaran - (MADRAS CHRISTIAN COLLEGE)

  Astronomy is a course in Madras Christian College for the students of BSc mathematics. The course includes understanding the celestial sphere, the celestial coordinate system, the movement of the sun and the diurnal motion of stars. Students are taught using ICT tools supported by a practical exposure to the actual night sky through observation sessions. Students are allowed to intern at an observatory to gain a first hand experience of setting up telescopes and recording observations. In this paper, we study the effectiveness of night sky observation and training at an observatory as experiential learning tools for the students, the challenges faced, the outcome and impact of the initiative. This study is in line with SDG 4.

• Misconceptions On Astronomy Topics in Science Education: A case study for secondary school students

  Aysegul Yelkenci (Istanbul Kultur University)

  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.

• Time evolution of astronomy themes in the Romanian National Curriculum

  Dana Ficut-Vicas (Astronomical Observatory of the Romanian Academy Cluj-Napoca Branch, DOOR Centre for Education and Research)

  Astronomy is not a new subject in the Romanian Curricula, in fact is one of the oldest subjects taught at different levels in our country. Although astronomy is nowadays present in the curriculum just as themes within subjects such as physics, mathematics, geography, etc. we find it interesting to see which themes have been preserved in time.We propose an analysis of how the presence in the curricula of different astronomy themes has evolved in time and a comparison of these themes with the Big Ideas in Astronomy, the themes comprehending the Astronomy Literacy definition of Pedro Russo et. al. The importance of such a study is not only to present a history of these themes in the curriculum of our country, but rather to show how relevant astronomy is to any literacy solving curriculum.

• To make astronomy education a compulsory subject for all high school students

  Agata Hidehiko (NAOJ)

  This study examines from various perspectives a high school science curriculum that can be implemented in Japan's next Courses of Study. The competencies to be addressed are under discussion. In addition to “analytical, critical, and evaluative skills,” “risk response,” and “problem-solving skills,” which are directly related to agency, we would like to emphasize “the ability to express one's own opinions on science and technology” as a compulsory subject for “ Fundamentals of Science” in high school. A questionnaire survey of Japanese high school students revealed that “understanding the universe” was a content they wanted to learn.