Stars are one of the most frequently covered topics in introductory astronomy classes. From a constructivist framework, one must know what conceptions students bring with them to the classroom in order to effectively facilitate deep conceptual learning about stars. This study investigated the beliefs about stars that students hold when they enter an introductory astronomy course, and used that information to develop a concept inventory that can be used to assess those beliefs pre- and postinstruction.First, students' preinstructional beliefs were investigated through the use of student-supplied-response (SSR) surveys, which asked students to describe their ideas about topics such as what is a star, how is starlight created, how are stars formed, are all stars the same, and more. More than 2,200 students participated in this portion of the study during four semesters. Responses were inductively analyzed in an iterative process and coded for themes. Calculated frequencies show that although many students (80%) understand that stars are made of gas, a third to half of the participants (32-44%, depending upon the question) believe that starlight is created (or energy otherwise emitted) as a result of the star burning. Nuclear fusion, the true energy source in stars, is identified by fewer than 10% of the students. Interviews with seven volunteers confirmed that the responses seen on the SSR surveys were consistent with verbal explanations.The second portion of the study involved the design and testing of the Star Properties Concept Inventory. After item development and testing on Versions 1 and 2, interviews with 18 participants about their responses to Version 1, and an expert review by 26 volunteer astronomy instructors, Version 3 was created and tested during the Fall 2005 semester. Results from approximately 2,000 students who took Version 3 show that those students in an introductory astronomy course for nonscience majors increased their scores significantly over the semester, whereas a control group (students in an introductory earth science course for nonscience majors) showed no increase. These results support the purpose of this concept inventory to investigate the effectiveness of instruction on the topic of star properties and formation.

The purpose of this study was to explore technology as a tool for increasing student achievement within the middle school science classroom and specifically to support the learning of special needs students.Utilizing field-test curriculum from the Lawrence Hall of Science's Great Explorations in Math and Science (GEMS) Space Science Curriculum Sequence, software modules were designed to mediate instruction in specific problem areas which special needs students, especially those with learning disabilities, face in learning science.Participants in this research were middle school students who were classified as receiving special education services, but were enrolled in regular education science classes. Students in the control classrooms participated in an activity-oriented field-test curriculum which was common to all students within a particular class. Students in the modified treatment group received modified instructional activities which were mediated by a computer and utilized best practices.Regular education students using unmodified curriculum showed an 8% average gain from pre- to post-test whereas special education students showed a 7% decrease. On the other hand, regular education students using the modified curriculum averaged a 9% gain in their pre- post-test scores whereas special education students averaged a 7% gain.Gains in students' pretest to posttest scores were notably higher for the special education students who used computer-mediated instructional approaches designed utilizing best practices. In addition, the proportion of special needs students who provided more scientifically accurate and extended responses was much greater among those who used the modified materials. Most importantly, special needs students in this study who used the modified materials demonstrated more conceptual growth than did the special education students in using the unmodified materials. The major finding of this work is that most special education students demonstrated substantial gains in learning the content using the modified curriculum. Moreover, students using modified curriculum not only increased in the frequency of their responses, but also increased in the quality of their responses to a particular prompt. In addition, responses from special education students in the modified curriculum group were consistently within the range of responses found among the general education population, who also increased.

The purpose of this concurrent mixed methods study was to investigate the impact on high school students' knowledge and attitudes regarding astronomy and beliefs about the nature of science after participating in an extended authentic, inquiry-oriented, research experience studying variable stars using a specifically designed curriculum guide "In the Hunt for Variable Stars." The study gathered quantitative data using a pretest posttest strategy on a modified form of an existing questionnaire called Students Attitudes Toward Astronomy and four student-supplied response content surveys. Qualitative methods included analysis of researcher's field notes, naturalistic observations, formal interviews, and students' artifacts. The methods and results of this study provided important baseline information to measure cognitive and affective changes resulting from an authentic scientific research experience for high school students.Ninety students participated in a targeted instructional sequence and their attitudes and knowledge were compared to 50 students in a comparable science course who were not provided an authentic research experience. The results obtained in this study strongly suggest that participation in research is successful at significantly increasing content knowledge. All four content surveys showed statistically significant increases for students in the intervention group as compared to the students in the non-intervention group. Qualitative results demonstrated that both groups of students initially held naïve ideas about science and astronomy. After participation in the intervention, the most dramatic changes were observed in students' understanding of astronomy content. No substantial change was seen in students' attitudes toward Astronomy and science but there is evidence of some limited impacts on beliefs regarding the nature of science.In combination, the data resulting from this mixed-method study lend considerable weight to claim in contemporary science education reform that students will learn and more scientifically accurate knowledge of astronomy after participating in authentic inquiry experiences.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:24:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2009-04-14Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:13:09Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 iachel_g_me_bauru.pdf: 1453042 bytes, checksum: 23de5e4817ceda81d9727350b23b6678 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Relata-se aqui um estudo exploratório sobre a formação continuada de professores da Educação Básica, que visou o desenvolvimento profissional quanto à prática de ensino de conteúdos relacionados à Astronomia. Como é indicado por algumas pesquisas, os professores em exercício possuem sérias dificuldades ao ensinar esses temas, o que torna a formação continuada imprescindível. É apresentado todo o curso de formação continuada desenvolvido, ocorrido em onze encontros, nos quais os professores realizaram leituras de textos de divulgação científica, discutiram sobre a Astronomia, dividiram suas experiências enquanto docentes e participaram de atividades práticas, como a construção de uma luneta e a contemplação do céu em uma observação astronômica. Esta dissertação traz uma reflexão sobre a formação de professores e também aborda um levantamento bibliográfico de contribuições de outros pesquisadores sobre os variados conteúdos relacionados à Astronomia, presentes nos documentos oficiais que orientam os professores em seu ofício. Este levantamento beneficiou a seleção de textos para o seu uso durante o curso ministrado, característica diferencial desta pesquisa em relação a outras que tratam do ensino da Astronomia. Os dados de pesquisa, constituídos através de questionários e filmagem das dinâmicas de Grupo Focal, foram submetidos à análise de conteúdo, e considerados referenciais teóricos sobre a formação docente. Durante a realização das inferências, as contribuições que a atividade de formação continuada promoveu no desenvolvimento profissional dos docentes são discutidas. / We report here an exploratory study about Secondary and High School teachers’ continuing education about Astronomy teaching practice. As related in Science Education literature, inservice teachers have serious difficulties in teaching subjects related to Astronomy, which makes essential their request for continuing formation. It is presented here the entire continuous formation course that occurred in eleven meetings, when teachers carried out studies using, among other activities, scientific divulgation texts as support. They also discussed about Astronomy, shared their teaching experiences and participated in practical activities such as a telescope construction and the contemplation of the sky in an astronomical observation. This dissertation brings a reflection about teachers’ education and a survey of other researchers’ contributions about varied Astronomy contents, which are presented in Brazilian official standards designed to help teachers in their daily work. This survey helped to select texts to use during the course, which is a differential characteristic compared to other researches which deal with Astronomy education. Research data were constituted through questionnaires and focal group dynamics sessions recorded and submitted to content analysis. Theoretical references about teachers’ education were also considered. The contributions of this continuing education course for teachers’ professional development also were discussed.

The first chapter begins with the observations of 1,882 sources from the Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey (BGPS) at 1.1 mm in HCO⁺ J = 3 − 2 and N₂H⁺ J = 3 − 2. We determine kinematic distances for 529 sources and derive the size, mass, and average density for this subset of clumps. The median size of BGPS clumps is 0.75 pc with a median mass of 330 M⊙ (assuming T(Dust) = 20 K). The median HCO⁺ linewidth is 2.9 km s⁻¹ indicating the clumps are not thermally supported and provide no evidence for a size-linewidth relationship. This collection of objects is a less-biased sample of star-forming regions in the Milky Way that likely span a wide range of evolutionary states. We study in detail the G111 Infrared Dark Cloud northwest of NGC 7538 with the K-band Focal Plane Array. We map NH₃ (1,1) and (2,2), H₂O maser, and CCS emission simultaneously with the GBT. We find the NH₃ gas traces the 1.1 mm BGPS structure very well with gas kinetic temperatures consistently close to 15 K. Typical column densities are 2.5 × 10¹⁴ cm⁻² with a median abundance of NH₃ to H₂ of 5.94 × 10⁻⁸. The median linewidth of the NH₃ emission is 0.64 km s⁻¹ indicating the filament is not thermally supported. The NH₃ is subthermally populated along the entire filament. Individual NH3 peaks have a median size of 0.61 pc, mass of 188M⊙, and density of 3.4×10³ cm⁻³. An activity analysis shows the most active star forming regions are found at the junctions of the subfilaments that make up the larger G111 IRDC. The last chapter describes our systematic examination of individual student responses to the Light and Spectroscopy Concept Inventory national dataset. We use classical test theory to form a framework of results that is used to evaluate item difficulties, item discriminations, and the overall reliability of the LSCI. We perform an analysis of individual student’s normalized gains, providing further insight into the prior results from this data set. This investigation allows us to better understand the efficacy of using the LSCI to measure student achievement.

O presente trabalho visa apresentar uma proposta e uma breve análise do potencial pedagógico do tema da Astrofísica Estelar, uma vez que a teoria da formação e da evolução das estrelas é uma fusão da Astronomia com a chamada Física Moderna. O assunto proposto está idealmente situado para iluminar e reforçar a base física do Ensino Médio (termodinâmica básica, propriedades da luz, gravitação newtoniana etc.) por meio dos conceitos da Astrofísica Estelar na escola, já que eles se relacionam com o conteúdo que os alunos estavam aprendendo naquele momento. O trabalho se desenvolveu a partir da realização de quatro aulas aplicadas em cinco turmas da 2.a série do Ensino Médio, que tinham, no total, 69 alunos, em uma escola pública da cidade de São Paulo. O tema das aulas se relacionou com a formação e a evolução estelar; porém, também discorreu-se sobre questões mais gerais da Astronomia, como as constelações e o conceito de galáxia, a fim de introduzir o assunto para os estudantes. Toda a atividade foi elaborada a partir de uma apresentação de slides enriquecida com imagens e simulações. Como fonte de dados, utilizou-se um Questionário Inicial e um Final, aplicados durante a atividade, além da gravação das aulas e de outras anotações, sendo a pesquisadora a própria professora da turma. Analisou-se o aprendizado do grupo como um todo e a evolução conceitual de alguns alunos ao longo das aulas. Identificou-se defasagem nos conteúdos de Física dos alunos. Nesse sentido, as aulas sobre estrelas contribuíram de alguma maneira para o aprendizado dos estudantes, conforme verificado. Os resultados mostraram um progresso significativo, destacando-se alguns conceitos físicos agora integrados, tais como a luz e a gravitação. / This study aims to present a proposal and a brief analysis on the pedagogic potential of Stellar Astrophysics, since the theory of formation and evolution of stars is a merger of astronomy and the so-called Modern Physics. The proposed theme is ideally posted to enlighten and enhance the high school basic physics (basic thermodynamics, properties of light, Newtonian gravity, etc.), addressing stellar astrophysics concepts at school, since they relate to the subjects the students are learning simultaneously. The work has been developed through the application of four lessons for five different second year high school groups of students, totaling 69 students from a public school in the city of São Paulo. The subject of the lessons was related on star formation and stellar evolution, although more general topics related to astronomy were also addressed, such as constellations and the concept of galaxy, in order to introduce the topics to the students. All activity was developed through a slide show enriched with images and simulations. For the data survey, initial and final questionnaires were used during the activity, in addition to the classes records and other notes, being the researcher the class teacher. An analysis of the learning of the group as a whole was made as well as a study of the conceptual evolution of some students throughout the classes. We identified a discrepancy in students\' physical contents. For that matter, the lessons about star contributed somehow to the students\' learning, as verified. The results showed a significant evolution, highlighting some physical concepts now integrated, such as light, gravitation and others.

O presente trabalho visa apresentar uma proposta e uma breve análise do potencial pedagógico do tema da Astrofísica Estelar, uma vez que a teoria da formação e da evolução das estrelas é uma fusão da Astronomia com a chamada Física Moderna. O assunto proposto está idealmente situado para iluminar e reforçar a base física do Ensino Médio (termodinâmica básica, propriedades da luz, gravitação newtoniana etc.) por meio dos conceitos da Astrofísica Estelar na escola, já que eles se relacionam com o conteúdo que os alunos estavam aprendendo naquele momento. O trabalho se desenvolveu a partir da realização de quatro aulas aplicadas em cinco turmas da 2.a série do Ensino Médio, que tinham, no total, 69 alunos, em uma escola pública da cidade de São Paulo. O tema das aulas se relacionou com a formação e a evolução estelar; porém, também discorreu-se sobre questões mais gerais da Astronomia, como as constelações e o conceito de galáxia, a fim de introduzir o assunto para os estudantes. Toda a atividade foi elaborada a partir de uma apresentação de slides enriquecida com imagens e simulações. Como fonte de dados, utilizou-se um Questionário Inicial e um Final, aplicados durante a atividade, além da gravação das aulas e de outras anotações, sendo a pesquisadora a própria professora da turma. Analisou-se o aprendizado do grupo como um todo e a evolução conceitual de alguns alunos ao longo das aulas. Identificou-se defasagem nos conteúdos de Física dos alunos. Nesse sentido, as aulas sobre estrelas contribuíram de alguma maneira para o aprendizado dos estudantes, conforme verificado. Os resultados mostraram um progresso significativo, destacando-se alguns conceitos físicos agora integrados, tais como a luz e a gravitação. / This study aims to present a proposal and a brief analysis on the pedagogic potential of Stellar Astrophysics, since the theory of formation and evolution of stars is a merger of astronomy and the so-called Modern Physics. The proposed theme is ideally posted to enlighten and enhance the high school basic physics (basic thermodynamics, properties of light, Newtonian gravity, etc.), addressing stellar astrophysics concepts at school, since they relate to the subjects the students are learning simultaneously. The work has been developed through the application of four lessons for five different second year high school groups of students, totaling 69 students from a public school in the city of São Paulo. The subject of the lessons was related on star formation and stellar evolution, although more general topics related to astronomy were also addressed, such as constellations and the concept of galaxy, in order to introduce the topics to the students. All activity was developed through a slide show enriched with images and simulations. For the data survey, initial and final questionnaires were used during the activity, in addition to the classes records and other notes, being the researcher the class teacher. An analysis of the learning of the group as a whole was made as well as a study of the conceptual evolution of some students throughout the classes. We identified a discrepancy in students\' physical contents. For that matter, the lessons about star contributed somehow to the students\' learning, as verified. The results showed a significant evolution, highlighting some physical concepts now integrated, such as light, gravitation and others.

Neste trabalho relata-se a produção de um conjunto de oficinas, com foco na formação continuada de professores, mas também com o objetivo de atingir leigos interessados no assunto: Gravitação Universal. As oficinas foram ministradas como parte do OEI – Observatório Educativo Itinerante, em cinco módulos distintos mas relacionados. As atividades foram elaboradas à luz das ideias de Lev Vygotsky, sob uma perspectiva sociocultural da construção do conhecimento. O foco das atividades reside na evidenciação de processos de construção dos modelos explicativos para os movimentos do Sistema Solar e as interações gravitacionais entre os principais astros. As reflexões decorrentes da aplicação das atividades aponta: (1) que o material é versátil e utilizável em diferentes contextos; (2) os assuntos abordados em especial nos módulos 1 e 2, devido a sua complexidade conceitual, exigem mais tempo do que o inicialmente previsto; (3) as atividades podem ser extraídas do contexto da produção e utilizadas independentemente, desde haja uma contextualização inicial, (4) um diferencial em relação a outras produções similares, é que contém discussões detalhadas sobre o que se pode esperar como resultados e por quê, visando a auxiliar professores com lacunas em sua formação; e (5) a utilização do referencial mostrou-se adequada e produtiva, pois propiciou reflexões e identificação de caminhos explicativos tanto na elaboração do material quanto na análise das concepções dos participantes. / This study is about the production of a set of workshops focusing on Continuing Education for teachers and aiming to achieve general people who are interested in Universal Gravitation. Workshops were carried out as part of the Itinerant Educational Observatory (OEI) in five distinct sections which were related to each other. Activities were formulated based on Lev Vygotsky’s ideas through a sociocultural perspective of knowledge construction. The focus of activities is the disclosure of construction processes of explanatory models for the solar system motions and the gravitational interaction among main stars. Reflections resulting from the implementation of activities show that (1) material is versatile and useful in different contexts; (2) subjects addressed - mainly in modules 1 and 2 - require more time than the originally planned due to notion complexity; (3) activities can be extracted from production context and used independently since there is initial contextualization; (4) divergence regarding other similar productions is that they contain detailed discussions on why and what can be expected as results attempting to help teachers with educational gaps; and (5) references proved to be satisfactory and productive since they led to reflection and explanatory path identification in both preparation of material and analysis of participants’ conceptions.

This thesis encompasses two research fields in astronomy: astrometry and astronomy education and they are discussed in two parts. These parts represent two sides of a coin; astrometry, which is about constructing 3D representations of the Universe, and AER, where for this thesis, the goal is to investigate university students’ and lecturers’ disciplinary discernment vis-à-vis the structure of the Universe and extrapolating three-dimensionality. Part I presents an investigation of stellar surface structures influence on ultra-high-precision astrometry. The expected effects in different regions of the HR-diagram were quantified. I also investigated the astrometric effect of exoplanets, since astrometric detection will become possible with projects such as Gaia. Stellar surface structures produce small brightness variations, influencing integrated properties such as the total flux, radial velocity and photocenter position. These properties were modelled and statistical relations between the variations of the different properties were derived. From the models it is clear that for most stellar types the astrometric jitter due to stellar surface structures is expected to be of order 10 μAU or greater. This is more than the astrometric displacement typically caused by an Earth-sized exoplanet in the habitable zone, which is about 1–4 μAU, making astrometric detection difficult. Part II presents an investigation of disciplinary discernment at the university level. Astronomy education is a particularly challenging experience for students because discernment of the ‘real’ Universe is problematic, making interpretation of the many disciplinary-specific representations used an important educational issue. The ability to ‘fluently’ discern the disciplinary affordances of these representations becomes crucial for the effective learning of astronomy. To understand the Universe I conclude that specific experiences are called. Simulations could offer these experiences, where parallax motion is a crucial component. In a qualitative study, I have analysed students’ and lecturers’ discernment while watching a simulation video, and found hierarchies that characterize the discernment in terms of three-dimensionality extrapolation and an Anatomy of Disciplinary Discernment. I combined these to define a new construct: Reading the Sky. I conclude that this is a vital competency needed for learning astronomy and suggest strategies for how to implement this in astronomy education.

This thesis encompasses two research fields in astronomy: astrometry and astronomy education and they are discussed in two parts. These parts represent two sides of a coin; astrometry, which is about constructing 3D representations of the Universe, and AER, where for this thesis, the goal is to investigate university students’ and lecturers’ disciplinary discernment vis-à-vis the structure of the Universe and extrapolating three-dimensionality. Part I presents an investigation of stellar surface structures influence on ultra-high-precision astrometry. The expected effects in different regions of the HR-diagram were quantified. I also investigated the astrometric effect of exoplanets, since astrometric detection will become possible with projects such as Gaia. Stellar surface structures produce small brightness variations, influencing integrated properties such as the total flux, radial velocity and photocenter position. These properties were modelled and statistical relations between the variations of the different properties were derived. From the models it is clear that for most stellar types the astrometric jitter due to stellar surface structures is expected to be of order 10 μAU or greater. This is more than the astrometric displacement typically caused by an Earth-sized exoplanet in the habitable zone, which is about 1–4 μAU, making astrometric detection difficult. Part II presents an investigation of disciplinary discernment at the university level. Astronomy education is a particularly challenging experience for students because discernment of the ‘real’ Universe is problematic, making interpretation of the many disciplinary-specific representations used an important educational issue. The ability to ‘fluently’ discern the disciplinary affordances of these representations becomes crucial for the effective learning of astronomy. To understand the Universe I conclude that specific experiences are called. Simulations could offer these experiences, where parallax motion is a crucial component. In a qualitative study, I have analysed students’ and lecturers’ discernment while watching a simulation video, and found hierarchies that characterize the discernment in terms of three-dimensionality extrapolation and an Anatomy of Disciplinary Discernment. I combined these to define a new construct: Reading the Sky. I conclude that this is a vital competency needed for learning astronomy and suggest strategies for how to implement this in astronomy education.