The aim of this research on an astronomy course is to examine the situations that arose when WhatsApp, a social media application, was used as a tool for cooperation and interaction. In this work, a case study design was adopted. The WhatsApp group created for the research was composed of 87 participants and the messages exchanged in the WhatsApp…

Astronomy concept is regarded as one difficult topic in both teachers' and students' perspective even though it strongly appeals to the human mind. This concept requires imagination and the ability to use various skills and knowledge, for example, actual motion, relative position, and coordination of views from several points on the Earth to…

Newton's law of universal gravitation underpins our understanding of the dynamics of the Solar System and of a good portion of the observable universe. Generally, in the classroom or in textbooks, the law is presented initially in a qualitative way and at some point during the exposition its mathematical formulation is written on the blackboard…

This year marks 38 years since any part of the continental United States was darkened by the Moon's umbral shadow. During this "eclipse drought," no U.S. residents except those on Hawaii's Big Island in 1991 have had the opportunity to observe totality without traveling abroad. The 2017 Total Solar Eclipse (TSE2017, August 21, 2017) is…

This century's transits of Venus (2004, 2012) captured significant public attention, reminding us that the wonders of astronomy need not be confined to the night. And while nighttime telescope viewing gatherings (a.k.a. "star parties") are perennially popular, astronomy classes are typically held in the daytime. The logistics of…

This article reports on an investigation into the correlations between students' understandings of introductory astronomy concepts and the correctness and coherency of their written responses to targeted Lecture-Tutorial questions.

In this project, a method that had been developed using a single setup was employed to correctly measure the tilt of the Earth's axis on 21 June 2015. The method is an easily comprehensible and applicable technique that can be used in elementary science and astronomy courses and understood by students of every age group.

In this study, it was aimed to determine the astronomy literacy levels of secondary school 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grade students and to examine the sub-dimensions of astronomy literacy in terms of some variables. In the research, descriptive scanning method was used. The study was carried out with secondary school students studying in a secondary…

Rigorous and responsive science teaching is based on supporting all students in making progress in their understanding of important science ideas over time. In this article, we explore how did classroom talk patterns of funneling and focusing support student sensemaking. We share how talk, tasks, and tools within classroom activity work together…

Cosmic expansion is an important concept in astronomy. For ease of understanding, astronomers generally draw an analogy between cosmic expansion and the expansion of a spherical surface in 3D space. This study theoretically and experimentally investigates the laws governing the motion of particles on the surface of a balloon during expansion.…

When teaching an introductory science survey course to college students learning astronomy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, we have devoted four hours to teaching the history of astronomy as a fruitful strategy to introduce important concepts surrounding the development of general scientific knowledge throughout history. In order to…

Most American classrooms employ a teacher-text-centered model of instruction that is misaligned with the developmental science of how children naturally learn. This article reviews that science and the origins of the common instructional model, including three modifications intended to make it work better (grades, age-graded classrooms, and…

The Pulsar Search Collaboratory (PSC) engages high school students and teachers in analyzing real data from the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope for the purpose of discovering exotic stars called pulsars. These cosmic clocks can be used as a galactic-scale detector of gravitational waves, ripples in spacetime that have recently been directly…

The solar eclipse coming August 21 offers students the opportunity not only to explore the geometry of the solar system but also to learn about exoplanets transiting distant stars. Students can glimpse a great frontier of science: the search for other worlds and life. This article presents information on exoplanets, discovering planets around…

Student-generated questions and ideas about our universe are the start of a rich and highly motivating learning environment. Using their curiosity-driven questions and ideas, students form Knowledge Building groups or "communities" where they plan, set goals, design questions for research, and assess the progress of their work, tasks…