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Astronomy education is essential for STEM education in primary schools, and integrating engineering design-based science education enhances student engagement and achievement in the field of space science. Integrating engineering design into science education is essential for students to excel in astronomy and to meet the requirements of contemporary society. This study investigated the effect of engineering design-based instruction (EDBI) on the understanding of astronomy concepts among sixth-grade students. The study included a cohort of 37 sixth-grade students from a public school. It was carried out using a one-group pre-test, posttest experimental design. All participants received EDBI that was based on the objectives of the 6th grade "Solar System and Eclipses" unit. Statistical analyses were employed to ascertain the effect of astronomy instruction based on engineering design on students' comprehension of astronomy concepts. The results indicated a significant difference in the average scores of students' understanding of astronomical concepts before and after being taught using EDBI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Environmental & Social Management Journal / Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental is the property of Environmental & Social Management Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Research on views of the nature of science (NoS) among students and teachers in basic education has identified, for decades, a predominance of views considered "inadequate," "distorted," or "underinformed." Much of these conceptions are related to an excessive trust in the authority of science, overemphasizing the role of experimentation to prove that scientific theories are supposedly true. This issue has strengthened in the last decade as one of the most urgent challenges for science education research due to the rise of scientific denialism, which also involves a naive questioning of the legitimacy of scientific research. Based on studies of the history of cosmology in the 20th century, particularly in the controversy between the Big Bang theory and the Steady State universe, we argue that this episode has the potential to promote explicit discussions about the concept of evidence in science and, therefore, to contribute to problematizing scientistic and denialist views in teacher education. The present research empirically reinforces the argument that a contextual approach to scientific topics, based on the history of science, contributes to science education aiming for a better understanding of scientific dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we present the results of a process of adapting a research instrument developed to measure the level of basic astronomy knowledge among the Brazilian population. This instrument, called "Test of Levels of Knowledge in Astronomy" (TNCA), was developed in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and, therefore, was organized and disseminated in the form of an electronic form to the 57 students and teachers who participated in this research. The TNCA consists of the translation and adaptation of all 27 multiple-choice questions contained in the Test Of Astronomy Standards (TOAST), the result of over 20 years of research, developed, validated, and consolidated by the Center for Astronomy & Physics Education Research, a renowned research center in Astronomy Education in the United States. The changes made to the original items are due not only to the linguistic peculiarities of the Portuguese language but also to the specificity of the sky observed from the southern hemisphere of our planet and, particularly, the Brazilian geographical and educational context. The TNCA was made available and distributed digitally to three different groups composed of high school students, Physics undergraduates, and Physics teachers, and the research corpus was analyzed according to the Classical Test Theory. This analysis allowed us to compare the conceptions observed in our test with both the results of the original instrument and the results of research in Astronomy Education. Our results showed a strong compatibility between the validation indexes and indicators of the items obtained on TOAST and TNCA, with the identification of specific problems in only 4 of the 27 questions analyzed. Thus, after the analysis, we adapted the four questions identified with lower validation potential to consolidate the final version of the TNCA. This new version is presented as a promising instrument for future application on a statistically significant scale aiming at its validation as an assessment tool for basic Astronomy knowledge in physics and astronomy education contexts in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The shape of the Earth is a fundamental concept that students need to learn in astronomy education. This paper reports the findings of a study that confirms the effectiveness of an intervention involving the construction of a model of the Earth prior to the introduction of the globe as a codified artefact. The educational intervention had been preceded by the EARTH2 test, which was used to check how well students participating in the study mastered the concept of the Earth's shape. The study included forty-seven primary school students (grades I and II). Effectiveness was measured by comparing the answers chosen by Polish children in a test as mental models. The study confirmed (A) that the intervention was effective: 49% of progressive changes, 30% of regressive changes, and 21% of changes within the same mental model were observed; (B) that there was an increase in the children's interest in space, revealed by an increased number of questions going far beyond the school astronomy curriculum; and (C) that students' concerns about the dangers of space were revealed. Key findings include the following: (a) Educational effectiveness regarding the concept of the shape of the Earth is achieved in activities that involve building a spherical Earth model before introducing a globe as a ready-made model. (b) The topics addressed in astronomy classes must be far broader than what the current curricula provide. They should take into account current issues reported by the media and deal with astronomical discoveries and space technology. (c) When organising activities, children's concerns about the dangers of space should be borne in mind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to determine the attitudes and opinions of pre-service social studies teachers regarding astronomy education. Astronomy education, which deals with topics such as supernovae, asteroids, black holes, solar system and space, is considered important in understanding the situations encountered in daily life and having an idea. The research, which was designed according to the survey method, was conducted in the 2023-2024 academic year. Quantitative data were obtained according to the "Astronomy Attitude Scale (ATS)" adapted by Türk ve Kalkan (2017), and qualitative data were obtained with the "Interview Form" developed by the researcher. Independent t-test and One Way ANOVA were used to analyze quantitative data. Content analysis was used to analyze qualitative data. Among the variables of the study, it was determined that grade level, gender, academic grade point average, whether or not to follow scientific publications, and the settlement unit lived in before starting university did not affect the attitudes of pre-service social studies teachers towards astronomy education. According to the qualitative findings, it was determined that they summarized that space and planets come to mind when astronomy education is mentioned, social studies courses are related to astronomy, pre-service social studies teachers do not have enough knowledge about astronomy, they need to know astronomy-related topics, the values and skills in the social studies curriculum can be gained through astronomy education, and astronomy science should be included as a separate course in the social studies teaching undergraduate program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of INES Journal: The Journal of International Education Science / Uluslararası Eğitim Bilimleri Dergisi is the property of INES Journal: The Journal of International Education Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Virtual reality (VR) technologies have the potential to transform astronomy education practices profoundly: new forms of visual representations, perceptual engagement and embodied participation promise authentic learning experiences in formal and informal learning spaces. While a growing body of research studies the educational needs and opportunities of VR astronomy education from the learner's perspective, relatively few studies have explored the perspectives of education and public outreach (EPO) professionals. This study aims to turn our attention to these complementary perspectives and shed light on design considerations for using VR in astronomy education. We unpack design principles as a dialogue between researchers and practitioners, framing this dialogue as an act of reflective practice. The findings and the ensuing dialogue draw on data from two focus group interviews with EPO professionals and scientists from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery. Our design principles centre on aspects of immersion, visualisation, facilitation, and collaboration and can guide astronomy educators who wish to use VR in formal and informal learning environments. Besides, our study contributes to a deeper understanding of the new learning contexts VR technologies can create in astronomy education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, astronomy education is being promoted through curricula. Research indicates that educators need support to fundamentally comprehend and gain knowledge of astronomy as well as pedagogical expertise to organize and facilitate astronomy-related activities in the classroom. In response to this notable demand, we have designed a coherent training program that addresses both the foundational and pedagogical content knowledge necessary to instruct astronomy subjects at the pre-primary and early school levels. This program is constructed in a blended learning format, which combines online and in-person training with practical implementations in the classroom. We trained both professional and student kindergarten teachers, and we used questionnaires and interviews to evaluate and improve our training program. In this article, we present the results of our initial evaluation. We found that the student teachers showed a more significant improvement in their content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and instruction preferences compared to the professional teachers. However, we identified several areas for improvement, which will be addressed in future cycles of the program for further evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern astronomy as a field of inquiry may be shaped by what we consider the "scientific" ways of knowing. However, the history of astronomy as a human endeavour dates back millennia before the "modern" notions of "science". This long history means that astronomy is, at its core, built on a rich cultural diversity and history. This offers a rich potential that, while having been examined in various studies, has yet to be explored from a contextual pedagogical perspective. This paper offers an initial exploratory theoretical perspective on how social semiotics can be used to inform a conceptual framework. This approach not only brings notions of culture into the teaching and learning of astronomy but uses culture as the starting point in a way that does justice to the cultural diversity of the discipline and the world. In doing so, this paper develops two frameworks: (i) the Conceptual Framework for Culture in Astronomy Education and (ii) the Pedagogical Framework for Culture in Astronomy Education, both of these offer a novel approach to astronomy education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research investigates the perceptions of kindergarten students, and pre-service teachers from the Early Childhood Education Department at the University of Athens, concerning the frequency of the Moon's appearance in the night sky. Τhe sample consisted of 15 people from each population group. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect the data. Data analysis suggests that the vast majority of both population groups consider the presence of the Moon in the celestial dome to be indicative of the night. Furthermore, when the relevant questions are asked independent of the need to explain other phenomena, the participants usually respond with the tautological statement that they can always see the Moon at night because it is night. The research also revealed that although knowledge which is acquired over time from: (a) observational data (e.g. the periodicity of the Moon's Apparent Motion is not 24 h), and (b) school/extracurricular activities (e.g. the Moon orbits the Earth with a frequency that is not 24 h) constitutes grounds for doubting the belief that the Moon is always visible in the night sky, it does not actually affect this belief. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In learning astronomy, students need to shift between 3D and 2D representations involving complex interactions between the body and material environment. Little attention has been paid to the iconic nature of this astronomical diagramming. This research explored the value for students of diagramming to reveal the structural relationships of astronomical phenomena. The study aimed to 1) operationalise Charles Peirce's pragmatist semiotics to analyse students' bodily and material reasoning 2) identify the iconic nature of students' diagramming through Stjernfelt's activating of Peirce's iconicity. Two students (a pair) from a class of 30 Year 7 students (12 years old) and their teacher (1) from a government secondary school in Melbourne, Australia. A micro-ethnographic approach to the analysis of video/audio records and student artefacts was utilised in the context of three moments from a 1 hr lesson on astronomy. This data was analysed using Peirce's sign types of icon, index and symbol to construct a triadic account of the bodily and material nature of students' reasoning as diagramming. The two students determined, by revealing structural relationships with their bodies as well as a mini-whiteboard and a torch and globe, that the Sun is higher in the sky in Summer than Winter due to the Earth's rotational axis with a tilt (of 23.5 degrees) and its elliptical orbit around the Sun. For students to transduct between 3D and 2D astronomical representations, they need to coordinate space-based and Earth-based perspectives through bodily and material diagramming that makes apparent key structural relationships (i.e. iconicity). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among many planetariums in Turkey, Istanbul University hosts the first planetarium in an astronomy department run by professional astronomers and graduate and undergraduate astronomy students. In this work, we present the design and some technical aspects of the planetarium, as well as our experiences since its opening in 2018. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In celebration of the planetarium's 100th anniversary, this article offers a case study of the Sheikh Abdullah Al Salem Cultural Center Planetarium. The planetarium emerges as a paramount symbol of the enduring significance of these celestial learning centres, uniquely positioned to champion astronomy education and the preservation of the pristine night sky. Through innovative initiatives and immersive experiences, this planetarium inspires the next generation of scientists and illuminates the path to a future shaped by scientific curiosity and cosmic exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of ChatGPT triggers conversations and discourse about the authorship, plagiarism, and originality. A narrow application of the continuously developing Natural Language Learning Processes (NLP) it fosters various reactions in academia and politics. The efforts of institutions like the Tech Diplomacy network paves a way towards negotiate stewardship. The US government has recently developed new grant avenues for academia to invest into the development of AI related topics, forming and funding institutes that focus on astronomy, material research and various new methods to strengthen AI, signaling its understanding of the currency of the topic and providing education with some needed resources. Most visually oriented or creative disciplines are naturally foregrounded in current social media trends and expose various issues associated with copyright and ownership. Like other design disciplines architecture attempts to sidestep this conversation, emphasizing AI as an active contrib - uting partner and offering an aesthetic-philosophical framework, embracing the proposed posthuman phase. Design pedagogy in architecture attempts to follow suit and negotiate the threshold between pragmatic application and visionary, autonomous design with AI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Góndola, Enseñanza y Aprendizaje de las Ciencias is the property of Gondola, Ensenanza y Aprendizaje de las Ciencias and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Netherlands Research School for Astronomy (NOVA) has operated a Mobile Planetarium for over 14 years. Between 2009-2023, the project reached more than 400,000 learners and their teachers across the Netherlands. The project has been popular with schools since the beginning but continues to grow and reach increasing numbers of learners and schools each year. A project like the Mobile Planetarium does not continue growing this way without developing key ingredients or best practices. In this article, we describe the NOVA Mobile Planetarium project in detail and the challenges faced over the last 14 years. Reflection on the different aspects of the project has led to 10 best practices which have been critical to the continued success of this project. In this article, we aim to share our experiences to help other mobile planetarium projects around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Porto Planetarium - Ciência Viva Center (PP-CCV) is under the scientific and operational management of the Center for Astronomy/Astrophysics Research of the University of Porto, which also hosts the Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences (IA), the largest astronomy research unit in Portugal. This article presents the conception, development, implementation and evaluation of PP-CCV's ongoing science education strategy, built upon two main pillars: Science Communication and Science Education. Those self-sustained pillars are interconnected, leveraging each other in a truly synergistic process. The assessment of the science education strategy was carried out through a questionnaire, participant observations and interviews. These results revealed how we can effectively connect science education and science communication using outreach structures already established in research units. However, those institutions must understand the school curricula and get to know the teacher's ecosystem. That will be the foundation for us to build upon and to move from what students should know - the prescribed curriculum - to what is scientifically relevant for them to know - the most up-to-date foundations of scientific knowledge and process. With that, we can start from science education to reach science communication by framing the curricula with the most up-to-date scientific knowledge and processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first global e-competition on astronomy and astrophysics was held online in September–October 2020 as a replacement for the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics, which was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the short time available for organization, 8 weeks, the competition was run successfully, with 325 students from over 42 countries participating with no major issues. The feedback from the participants was positive and reflects the ways in which such events can boost interest in astronomy and astronomy education. With online activities set to become more prevalent in the future, we present an overview of the competition process, the challenges faced, and some of the lessons learned, aiming to contribute to the development of best practices for organizing online competitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, it is aimed to determine the astronomy literacy levels of the seventh and eighth grade secondary school students and to investigate the effect of augmented reality [AR] applications on the astronomy literacy levels of the students. The research is a quantitative study and a quasi-experimental method was used. The study group consists of a total of 95 seventh and eighth grade students (n7th grade = 46 and n8th grade = 49) studying in a secondary school in the central district of Ankara in the spring semester of the 2021-2022 academic year. The students of the study group of the research were selected by using convenient sampling method. Two experiments and two control groups were used in the study. The data of the research were obtained with the astronomy literacy scale before and after the application. In practice, the lessons were taught within the framework of basic astronomy concepts, with augmented reality applications in the experimental groups, and with the activities suggested in the textbooks in line with the achievements specified in the curriculum in the control groups. As a result of the analysis of the data, it was noted that the students' astronomy literacy levels were low before the application. After the application, the astronomy literacy levels of the experimental group students were high; it was seen that the control group students reached the intermediate level. It was determined that augmented reality [AR] applications positively affected the astronomy literacy levels of the experimental group students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Scientiae (1517-4492) is the property of Acta Scientiae and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Globally, astronomy education is being promoted through curricula. Research indicates that educators need support to fundamentally comprehend and gain knowledge of astronomy as well as pedagogical expertise to organize and facilitate astronomy-related activities in the classroom. In response to this notable demand, we have designed a coherent training program that addresses both the foundational and pedagogical content knowledge necessary to instruct astronomy subjects at the pre-primary and early school levels. This program is constructed in a blended learning format, which combines online and in-person training with practical implementations in the classroom. We trained both professional and student kindergarten teachers, and we used questionnaires and interviews to evaluate and improve our training program. In this article, we present the results of our initial evaluation. We found that the student teachers showed a more significant improvement in their content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and instruction preferences compared to the professional teachers. However, we identified several areas for improvement, which will be addressed in future cycles of the program for further evaluation.

The stellar magnitude scale is grounded in the human perception of starlight and is one of the basic concepts in astronomy. However, its introduction is not easy to incorporate in the classroom. We propose a simple demonstration related to the observational aspect of the stellar magnitude scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Scientiae (1517-4492) is the property of Acta Scientiae and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study aims to reveal the astronomy-related self-efficacy beliefs of pre-service teachers studying science education, primary school education, and social studies education programmes. The study is conducted using the survey design, a quantitative research method. The study sample consists of 322 pre-service teachers in their third or fourth year of a science education, primary school education, or social studies education programme at a university in Turkey’s Central Anatolia Region during the 2016 fall semester. The Astronomy Teaching Self-Efficacy Belief Scale developed by Güneş was used as the data collection tool. SPSS 22 was used to analyse the data, and the analyses benefited from descriptive and inferential statistics. Based on the findings, the pre-service teachers’ total scores for astronomy self-efficacy showed no significant difference in terms of certain variables (i.e., gender, age, year, and having taken a previous astronomy course). However, significant differences were found regarding self-efficacy scores in terms of the programme and having taken part in astronomy and sky-gazing activity. Concerning the obtained results, the following suggestions can be made: pre-service teachers should be actively involved during the astronomy course, and their classroom management experiences should be promoted to improve their astronomy self-efficacy belief levels.

This article summarises the experience from the first three years of operation of the Unisphere spherical projection at Silesian University in Opava, Czech Republic. In addition to our operational experience, we describe our creative activities and future plans for the Unisphere Studio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Misconceptions in astronomy arise because of our unique, geocentric perspective on the night sky and astronomical phenomena. However, astronomy is quintessentially a "spatial" science, and three-dimensional visualisation is necessary for understanding most of its core concepts. Since the traditional optomechanical planetarium offers the same geocentric point of view on the sky, it might generate similar misconceptions in visitors. The new digital planetarium, which projects on the dome a realistic and accurate rendition of the cosmos in 3D, allows us to break free from 2D representations and transforms the planetarium theatre into a virtual spacecraft, affording different perspectives on astronomical phenomena. This new planetarium thus becomes an extraordinary tool to foster conceptual change in visitors. Recent research in astronomy education about using the digital planetarium to teach basic astronomy concepts, like the diurnal cycle, phases of the Moon, and seasons, has shown the advantages of this new tool, compared with 2D visuals and traditional classroom instruction. More research needs to be done to better understand how to use the digital planetarium in communicating astronomy with the public, especially to present concepts with a strong spatial component, but the future is promising! [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immersive technologies have the potential to play unique roles in the collaborative problem-solving process. To advance research in these contexts, new methods of documenting group collaboration with technology are necessary. The goal of this paper is to develop and utilize a coding scheme that enables investigation of the nature of collaborative interactions within the context of a shared virtual reality (VR) and tablet computer astronomy simulation. This multi-device environment was integrated into the laboratory learning of an undergraduate introductory astronomy course. Two exemplar groups were identified and reviewed for diversity of collaboration and technology interactions. Informed by existing coding practices for collaborative learning, these observations were then used to generate the coding scheme. Coding results reveal that task complexity contributed to an increase in diverse collaboration, and users who switched between technology platforms showed marked differences in their interactions with group members. Moments of discourse when group members were sharing the same simulation view were typically oriented around the acquisition of new knowledge and were often followed by bursts of productive discourse. We discuss the utility of our coding scheme alongside implications of this work via insight into what constitutes understanding in collaborative contexts augmented by immersive and networked technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism is intrinsically interdisciplinary and draws elements from numerous academic fields, but only a small number of foundational disciplines are formally presented to students in undergraduate hospitality and tourism textbooks, namely, introduction to tourism or hospitality, accounting/finance, operations, and marketing. This research explored the effectiveness of broadening the range of disciplines to which students are exposed through the use of a unique final project. Seventy-six students across three academic years were assigned a lesser-covered academic discipline, such as Music or Astronomy, and instructed to explore the intersection of this discipline with tourism to create original in-class presentations. As co-creators of classroom content, students developed and improved their self-directed learning and research skills, multidimensional knowledge and global competency. Results verify the potential of this pedagogical method, one that can easily be adopted and adapted to refocus student efforts on revealing niche tourism amenities in any country or culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present analysis using a citizen science campaign to improve the cosmological measures from the Hobby–Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX). The goal of HETDEX is to measure the Hubble expansion rate, H (z), and angular diameter distance, D A(z), at z = 2.4, each to percent-level accuracy. This accuracy is determined primarily from the total number of detected Ly α emitters (LAEs), the false positive rate due to noise, and the contamination due to [O ii ] emitting galaxies. This paper presents the citizen science project, Dark Energy Explorers (https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/erinmc/dark-energy-explorers), with the goal of increasing the number of LAEs and decreasing the number of false positives due to noise and the [O ii ] galaxies. Initial analysis shows that citizen science is an efficient and effective tool for classification most accurately done by the human eye, especially in combination with unsupervised machine learning. Three aspects from the citizen science campaign that have the most impact are (1) identifying individual problems with detections, (2) providing a clean sample with 100% visual identification above a signal-to-noise cut, and (3) providing labels for machine-learning efforts. Since the end of 2022, Dark Energy Explorers has collected over three and a half million classifications by 11,000 volunteers in over 85 different countries around the world. By incorporating the results of the Dark Energy Explorers, we expect to improve the accuracy on the D A(z) and H (z) parameters at z = 2.″4 by 10%–30%. While the primary goal is to improve on HETDEX, Dark Energy Explorers has already proven to be a uniquely powerful tool for science advancement and increasing accessibility to science worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sarah Frances Whiting developed innovative and influential laboratory work in her introductory astronomy classes at Wellesley College in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Whiting was strongly influenced by Edward Pickering and the early physics laboratory education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This article explores the early development of laboratory work in astronomy education at Wellesley and Whiting's underlying philosophy of education. By laboratory work, Whiting meant day-time work, including work with astronomical photographs and spectroscopy. Her pedagogy was encapsulated in her phrase "to sharpen the pencil sharpens the mind," which referenced the importance of a student's familiarity with tools as well as the role of drawing in astronomical work. Whiting further modeled her instruction after the work being conducted at the Harvard College Observatory in order to prepare her students for potential future employment as astronomers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Góndola, Enseñanza y Aprendizaje de las Ciencias is the property of Gondola, Ensenanza y Aprendizaje de las Ciencias and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of International Journal of Field Education (IJOFE) is the property of International Journal of Field Education (IJOFE) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The aim of this study is to examine the effects of activities developed on the subject of Moon Movements and Phases on the spatial skills and academic achievement of 5th-grade students. For this purpose, a mixed research method was used. In the quantitative dimension of the research, a quasi-experimental design with pretest-posttest control group was used, and in the qualitative dimension, interviews were conducted with the students in the experimental and control groups. The research was conducted with a total of 44 students attending 5th grade. The activities were prepared with the opinions of science teachers and field experts. In the research, two different measurement tools were used: Spatial Test Battery and The Achievement Test for Sun, Earth, Moon and Moon Movements and Phases. As a result of the analysis, no statistically significant difference was found between experimental and control groups in terms of achievement and spatial skills. In the analysis of qualitative data, content analysis was used. Accordingly, it was determined that the activities prepared for astronomy education by the researcher increased the spatial thinking skills of the students in the experimental group.

In the 1950s in Turkey, textbooks held a crucial role in education and training. The Republic of Turkey, like many modern states, not only kept the principles and procedures of writing and reviewing textbooks very strict through the Board of Education but also took the debates and criticisms seriously. One of the examples of this is the debate about a visual in the Astronomy textbook written by Şerafettin Çintan, a mathematics teacher at Kabataş High School for Boys, which appeared in the Turkish press on 9-17 March 1955 and lasted for nine days. This study aims to analyze and evaluate said debate in the context of the political and pedagogical environment of the period. Designed as qualitative research, the present study is based on document analysis. As the data source of the study, the Astronomy textbook prepared by Şerafettin Çintan, the decisions of the Board of Education on astronomy textbooks, and the newspapers of the period were employed. The data collected within the scope of the study were analyzed through descriptive analysis. As a result of the study, it was found that the examining institutions concluded that the mustache-like shapes in the visuals used in the Astronomy textbook on 16 March 1955 were due to a cliche error and that the Board of Education accepted Şerafettin Çintan's book as a textbook again in December 1955. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports a mapping of the astronomy content knowledge held by a sample of 171 Chilean in-service teachers, both from primary and secondary education, using a multiple-choice test. The responses were analysed by total achievement, and the proportion of alternative conceptions for each item was identified. Moreover, the test items were divided by Big Ideas in Astronomy and curricular topics to analyse teachers' performance by subject, and the effect of some demographic factors was calculated. The results show a relatively low level of astronomy content knowledge and a considerable presence of alternative conceptions amongst Chilean in-service teachers, especially in day-to-day topics like diurnal motion, seasons, and Moon phases. Furthermore, we detected a significant effect on secondary teachers' performance depending on their teaching degree and on primary teachers' performance concerning their gender and previous participation in astronomy professional development programmes. Our outcomes offer evidence to improve astronomy teacher training, especially in the Chilean context, and contribute to the still scarce astronomy education research from the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Human Review is the property of Eagora Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract People's perceptions of the shape of the Earth are discussed extensively, but little is said about how teachers approach this subject. In this research, we seek to gain insight into the pedagogical and methodological strategies that aspiring educators envisage for teaching about this topic. Drawing from Harres’ research, we devised and implemented a questionnaire in which each participant shared instructional and methodological approaches based on their perception of a hypothetical student's response about the Earth’s shape. The findings suggest that the respondents have a pre-existing awareness of the students' perspectives on the matter. Differences between the two groups that came up highlight the significance of pedagogical debates in training future teachers.

This study used descriptive - developmental education research design. There are 17 science teacher education students whose currently taking Astronomy subject as major subject, and 12 faculty specialist in the field of science and professional education who served as participants of the study. Two instruments were used in gathering data, including; assessment tests and descriptive checklist. Findings revealed the following: the level of competency of the students were satisfactory before the development of the material; the developed instructional material was a module entitled "Solar: Module for Astronomy." It was composed of different parts. It contains 19 congruent worksheets; the instructional material was perceived as "Very Useful."; and the instructional material was perceived as "Not Difficult" to utilize. Thus, in view of these conclusions, it recommends to heighten the level of competency of the students by using developed instructional materials as references and resources; innovate and improve the developed module by adding parts and worksheets; utilize the developed instructional material as resources and references in teaching astronomy and other related fields; and maintain the difficulty of the instructional material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Course revision is often challenging, and instructional partnerships between Learning Assistants (LAs; peer mentors) and course instructors can be leveraged to create novel learning spaces, through an ongoing, iterative revision process coupled with an open sharing of ideas between the LA and instructor. We describe the specifics of an instructional partnership between LA and instructor in the context of an online general education course in astronomy and cosmology, focusing both on the partnership and the activities generated through the partnership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Editorial board members (EBMs) of journals play a pivotal role in authentic international scientific journals. Editorial Board Interlocking (EBI) phenomenon reflects the effectiveness and importance of the scholarly journal's editorial boards in various scientific fields. The primary purpose of this paper is to conduct a Social Network Analysis (SNA) of EBI phenomena from the perspective of astronomy and astrophysics journals. The present study is applied research based on EBI, SNA, and the descriptive-analytical approach. The statistical population of this study consists of the editorial board members of all journals of astronomy and astrophysics indexed in the JCR and official journal websites. There are 1597 job positions in 67 astronomy and astrophysics journals occupied by the 1394 scholars. Data analysis shows EBI for 95 scholars and 79 organizations. "Aleksei A. Starobinsky" from Russia and the Russian Academy of Sciences, "Daniel J. Scheeres" from the United States, and the University of Colorado Boulder have the highest EBI contributions in five journals. "Daniel J. Scheeres," with a centrality of 39, has the highest degree of centrality measurement among the EBMs. The presence of more than five times as many men as women indicates that astronomy and astrophysics journals are considered "masculine" by the editorial board. The EBI phenomenon is observed in astronomy and astrophysics journals due to the limited number of peop le eligible for the editorial board. Due to EBI, a limited number of famous scholars are made macro-policies such as publishing the articles, referees selections, and the reviewing process. Astronomy and astrophysics journals have "elite" academic networks. Gender inequality exists among EBMs, and the majority of them are male. Accordingly, these journals are "men's journals.". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Enhancing science education in developing countries has been a focal point of many studies and efforts, but reform has mainly been driven by top-down approaches that often face impediments. A shift to active learning pedagogies can potentially address these challenges, but it has thus far been predominantly implemented and understood in developed countries. Thanks to the growing accessibility of open education resources and ubiquitous technologies, education reform can now be carried out from the bottom up. Here, we present the results of a two-year implementation of active learning in five core physics and astronomy courses comprising 2,145 students from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Simultaneous improvements are observed in both students’ performance and their perception of the quality of learning; means improved by 9% (0.5 SD) and 25% (1.5 SD), respectively. Moreover, the performance gap between students in the bottom quartile and those in the top quartiles was narrowed by 17%. The failure rate was reduced to a third of that in traditional classes; this is 36% better than the results in developed countries, indicating a greater need for active pedagogies by MENA students. Our findings reveal a multidimensional positive influence of active learning, the viability of its grassroots implementation with open resources, and its sustainability and reproducibility. We suggest that wider implementation can boost education-driven economic growth by 1% in per capita gross domestic product [GDP], substantially cut costs of repeating courses, and produce a more competent STEM workforce—all of which are urgently needed to stimulate development and growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]