A primary goal of general education introductory astronomy courses often is to provide students with examples of how science is actually done. Low to nonexistent mathematical prerequisites in some courses can make useful exercises difficult to find, and sometimes very difficult for students, especially if the exercises feature quantitative…

In this, the first installment in a series, I present a list of approximately 10[superscript 2] questions that can be addressed in an introductory astronomy course using ubiquitous farmer's almanacs. Some of these questions take the reader into the world of astrology and perhaps other pseudosciences, but that is okay with me because at one time…

This study compares three pre-collegiate teacher professional learning and development (PLD) integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) experiences framed in astronomy. The study is set in the western United States (USA) and involves 60 pre-collegiate teachers (in the USA these are K-12 teachers) over the course of three…

Models are at the heart of any physics discipline, and in recent decades physics education has shifted heavily toward teaching students how to think using models. Involving students in an investigation of a real phenomenon through measurements and the applications of models is an ideal learning experience for a physics student and is the aim of…

In this study, a bibliometric evaluation of the articles published between 1975 and 2020 in astronomy education in the Web of Science database is aimed to reveal the trend in this field and to compare the articles from Turkey with other countries. During the article search process, the keyword "astronomy" was scanned both in the title…

The new normal imposed on us by the COVID-19 pandemic restricted the traditional ways we would teach high school students who are eager to participate in introductory astronomy projects on our university campus. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise as we were forced to come up with creative ways to get around this obstacle. The outcome is…

The changing landscape of science and science education has provided an impetus to re-imagine how science can be taught in schools. The dawn of the Big Data era, especially in astronomy, and the notion of "Science as Practice" are some of the developments driving this need for a re-imagination of science education. This current work…

Even though the educational researchers have developed and implemented various educational strategies to teach the concepts of the phases of the Moon and the formation of the lunar eclipse more effectively, many studies conducted by them in recent years reveal that the teachers still do not understand the causes and scientific processes related to…

These studies examined self-reported interest, how level of interest is related to reported certainty of interest, and whether certainty helps to clarify the relationship between interest and behavior. This research borrows from research on attitudes showing that attitude certainty helps to clarify the relationship between attitudes and behavior.…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of astronomy activities in science education with preschool children through semi-structured interviews. The interviews were conducted with the children before and after the implementation of the activities. Five activities about astronomy were conducted for five weeks in practice. A total…

The Magiscope was an attraction at Manchester's department store in Madison, WI, in 1939 that allowed children to peek into Santa's workshop (as shown in Fig. 1). The "magiscope" was a telescope-like device that gave children the illusion they were looking at a distant Santa, when in fact they were looking at a fabricated workshop on an…

While recent reform-based efforts have shifted the emphasis towards engaging children in science practices, little research has considered how preschool-age children take first steps towards engagement in evidence-based explanations or modelling practices nor the role museum-settings might provide. Using a theoretical perspective that science…

Astronomy PhD recipients generally follow three main outcomes after receiving their degrees: they accept a postdoctoral position, a non-postdoctoral temporary position, or a potentially permanent position. To learn more about these outcomes, AIP annually asked new astronomy PhDs about their immediate post-degree outcomes. For the classes of 2018,…

Science teaching is one of the subjects that has been actively affected by Augmented Reality (AR) technology worldwide. Although the use of AR in science courses is increasing, the effective use of AR still needs improvement. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of augmented reality-based argumentation activities in 7th grade…

The aim of this study is to investigate how the use of augmented reality (AR) applications in educational environments affects students' achievement levels. The study was carried out through two dimensions; a quantitative and a qualitative aspect. The study was conducted with 7th-grade students in a public secondary school in Turkey as part of a…