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Astronomy Education Research Down Under

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 March 2016

John M. Broadfoot  and
Ian S. Ginns
John M. Broadfoot
Affiliation:
Queensland University of Technology, Australia E-mail: j.broadfoot@qut.edu.au, j.ginns@qut.edu.au
Ian S. Ginns
Affiliation:
Queensland University of Technology, Australia E-mail: j.broadfoot@qut.edu.au, j.ginns@qut.edu.au

Extract

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There are many problems associated with the teaching and learning of astronomy that require further investigation (Taylor k, Barker 2000). Students’ difficulties with visualization, mental modeling and conceptual restructuring have been reported by a number of researchers. Aspects of these important areas of research are examined in the paper. However, there has been limited focused research in the specific area of astronomy teaching (Taylor & Barker 2000; Treagust & Smith 1989). For example, the value of strategies that engage students in challenging their prior beliefs and intuitive ideas, thus enabling them to perceive patterns and grapple with frame of reference problems, and construct acceptable models of celestial phenomena, must be assessed. Such strategies might incorporate or re-enact historical discoveries (Noble 1999) thus engaging students in thinking about astronomical phenomena from an intuitive position.

Type
II. Special Scientific Sessions
Information
Highlights of Astronomy , Volume 13 , 2005 , pp. 1024 - 1028
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of Pacific 2005

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