Most students know that planetary orbits, including Earth's, are elliptical; that is Kepler's first law, and it is found in many science textbooks. But quite a few are mistaken about the details, thinking that the orbit is very eccentric, or that this effect is somehow responsible for the seasons. In fact, the Earth's orbital eccentricity is…

Every introductory astronomy class encounters Galileo during the course as the first man to systematically study the sky with a telescope. Every Astronomy 101 student meets Galileo as one of the major catalysts behind the shift from the Ptolemaic to the Copernican system and as one of the great minds behind the scientific method. But most of the…

In my contribution I would like to offer three different examples: the activities of the association "Förderverein Hamburger Sternwarte", science education in the "astronomy workshop", and the teaching of the history of science and technology for university students.

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Astronomy Education Research.] An increased interest in using video games in educational contexts has led to many innovations in both formal and informal environments. Educational researchers, instructional designers, and educators have sought and developed ways to incorporate video games or…

The idea of a shared place in the universe--a shared history--was embodied in 2019. The heft of the Smithsonian--its unparalleled collections, its diverse and deep-rooted expertise, and its outsized ability to connect with millions of people--is being brought to bear on the most critical issues of all time: conversations about democracy, identity,…

The idea behind the MUBEM & SAC: STEM based science and nature camp was a transformation of scientific knowledge into artifacts using the engineering design process and scientific inquiry. The goals of the camp were developing an integrative science perspective in accordance with the nature of STEM education, supporting career choices of…

This longitudinal study examined the role of metaconceptual awareness in the change and the durability of preservice teachers' conceptual understandings over the course of several months. Sixteen preservice early childhood teachers participated in the study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to reveal the participants' conceptual…

On Monday, August 21, 2017 there will be a Total Solar Eclipse. This will be the first time the Moon's umbra has touched the continental United States since 1979 and the first totality to span the country coast-to-coast since 1918. From within parts of Oregon and through 14 states to South Carolina, the Moon will completely hide the Sun for a few…

This study is conducted to detect the students' perceptions on Sun, Moon and Earth (SME) system and define the 7th grade students' attitudes on the subject. In the study, since it was aimed to detect and evaluate the students' perceptions on some basic astronomical concepts without changing the natural conditions, a descriptive approach was…

Increases in student-centered pedagogy have been more prevalent in K-12 education than in collegiate undergraduate science education. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of using student-centered pedagogy advocated in K-12 education on introductory astronomy students' content knowledge, interest, and recall of content taught in…

Using the National Center of Education Statistics' Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), this report analyzes data on Native American recipients of bachelor's degrees among 16 physical science and engineering fields. Overall, Native Americans are earning physical science and engineering bachelor's degrees at lower rates than the…

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Astronomy Education Research.] This paper presents the cases of two doctoral students in observational astrophysics whose circumstances and experiences led them on a career trajectory out of academic research. In this article, I employ a sociocultural lens that provides insight into the dynamics of…

To determine the extent of astronomy teaching in Quebec's schools, we conducted an online survey of 500 Québec's elementary (K-6) teachers between January and March 2015. With a 35-items questionnaire, we wanted to find out how these elementary teachers teach astronomy (or not) to their classrooms, what is their background in Science &…

Despite the interest, curiosity and the enthusiasm of the large public for Astronomy as a scientific discipline, it is absent from the current Romanian curriculum. We present here the results of two surveys that involve parents and teachers and show the necessity, the relevance and the usefulness of including astronomy as a discipline in the…

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Astronomy Education Research.] This qualitative study investigates astronomers' and urban public middle school teachers' beliefs about the characteristics of effective outreach partnerships in formal science classroom settings. Twelve astronomers and twelve science teachers participating in…