Pleiades Visions is a three-movement work for organ solo inspired by indigenous music and mythology associated with the Pleiades (Seven Sisters) star cluster. Three cultural groups are represented in Pleiades Visions. The first movement, entitled "Uluru," draws from Australian Aboriginal music and mythology. The second movement, entitled "...life on other worlds," is based loosely on a Quechan (Yuman) Indian song. The concluding movement, entitled "Mauna Kea," is inspired by the opening lines of the Kumulipo, a creation chant of the Native Hawaiian culture. The source material for Pleiades Visions was identified through research incorporating techniques from the fields of cultural astronomy and ethnomusicology. This research represents a new line of inquiry for both fields. This document situates Pleiades Visions in the context of the organ literature, and suggests that Pleiades Visions might be the first organ work with a cultural astronomy inspiration. It also describes the research undergirding Pleiades Visions, demonstrates the manner in which that research informed the composition of the work, and addresses issues surrounding the use of indigenous source material in a culturally sensitive manner.

The purpose of this research activity is to determine how cultural astronomy manages natural disasters in the local communities. Study Area: Mahikeng in North West Province among the Barolong boora Tshidi. Indigenous people have contributed the least to world greenhouse gas emission and have the smallest ecological footprints on Earth. Yet they suffer the worst impacts not only of climate change, but also from some of the international mitigation measures being taken. Impacts on climate change affect people negatively, these may include droughts, floods, increased diseases in people, plants as well as animals, biodiversity extinct, high mortality rate, increased food insecurity to mention a few. This study aims to describe how knowledge of cultural astronomy manages natural disasters within our local communities. In this dissertation the history of Barolong using their knowledge of cultural astronomy to manage natural disasters is gradually fading away because of non-recognition of our knowledge custodians as they do not hold any formal education and those who have it only ended at primary level. Democracy brought a sense of mental decolonization unto us as South Africans. This brought light to some of our village members to acknowledge their identity which includes their customs and beliefs. This study unearthed that local communities have the rich indigenous knowledge to sustain their lives that is how some villages are able to prepare and manage natural disasters without the knowledge of cultural astronomy only. They practice other measures which also sustain them and are also easy to be passed on orally from generation to generation. In Barolong communities the knowledge of sky readers is regarded to be very important, it is information that can be relied on because sky readers are always correct. In addition, African traditional religious nature and structure endorses the practice to be acknowledged and be taken as African identity. In the light of the above, and after taking comments by the members of the communities, recommendations are made for an integrated study framework between the local knowledge and modern technologies or information of astronomy. It is also recommended that there should be proper documentation which is not distorted before it can be totally extinct. / Thesis (M.(Indigenous Knowledge Systems) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2014

A presente pesquisa analisou materiais e propostas didáticas sobre o tema da astronomia cultural, tendo em vista sua inserção no ensino de tópicos de Física e Ciências na educação básica. A astronomia cultural pode ser tomada como o estudo das relações entre os saberes produzidos sobre o céu e as dinâmicas socioculturais de um dado grupo. A existência de uma grande multiplicidade de culturas indica a possibilidade de inúmeras formas de se relacionar com os elementos celestes. Tal diversidade pouco ou raramente é explorada, sendo um dos objetos desta pesquisa evidenciar que as discussões desta temática podem ser potencialmente interessantes para trabalhar em sala de aula a questão do respeito à diversidade cultural, apresentando aos estudantes outras lógicas de pensamento, distintas das referências da cultura ocidental. Foram realizadas revisões bibliográficas a fim de construir um panorama da produção dos pesquisadores da área de ensino de ciências junto aos temas do multiculturalismo e da astronomia cultural. Este procedimento favoreceu o contato com materiais e propostas didáticas que foram selecionadas para comporem o conjunto de dados a ser trabalhado. Com base na metodologia da análise de conteúdo, doze documentos que abordaram a astronomia cultural de maneira articulada ao contexto da sala de aula foram analisados, investigando-se três dimensões de análise. Os questionamentos realizados se relacionam aos seguintes aspectos: principais temas abordados pelos materiais; tipos de perspectivas voltadas ao multiculturalismo e à noção de cultura; o papel de medidas legislativas, a exemplo da Lei Federal nº 11.645/08, no aumento da produção de materiais abordando a astronomia cultural. Dentre os resultados da análise, verificou-se que os temas com maior frequência estão relacionados a narrativas sobre o funcionamento do universo e aos asterismos (ou constelações) de algumas etnias indígenas, sendo pouco recorrente o trabalho aprofundado com variadas estruturas de pensamento ou outras visões de mundo distintas da cultura ocidental. Sobre a abordagem ao multiculturalismo, houve uma polarização entre um viés diferencialista, que valoriza as diferenças particulares dos grupos, e uma postura intercultural, com ênfase no diálogo. Almeja-se que o trabalho possa contribuir para evidenciar algumas das potencialidades do ensino de astronomia cultural na educação básica, ao inserir discussões voltadas a diversidade cultural a fim de formar indivíduos que estejam menos centrados nas práticas de seu próprio grupo e mais abertos ao intercâmbio entre culturas e saberes distintos. / The present research examined materials and didactic proposals on the topic of cultural astronomy, with a view to their inclusion in the teaching of physics and science topics in basic education. Cultural astronomy can be taken as the study of the relationship between knowledge produced about sky and socio-cultural dynamics of a given group. The existence of a great variety of cultures indicates the possibility of numerous ways to relate to the elements of the sky. Such little diversity or is rarely explored, being one of the objects of this research show that discussions of this theme can be potentially interesting to work in the classroom the issue of respect for cultural diversity, showing other students thought logic, other than the reference of Western culture. Bibliographical reviews were carried out in order to build a panorama of the production of the researchers of science teaching with the themes of multiculturalism and cultural astronomy. This procedure favored contact with didactic materials and proposals that have been selected to compose the set of data to be worked. Based on content analysis methodology, twelve documents that addressed cultural Astronomy of articulated way to the context of the classroom were analyzed investigating three dimensions of analysis. The questions made relate to the following aspects: main themes addressed by the materials; types of prospects aimed at multiculturalism and the concept of culture; the role of legislative measures, such as the Federal Law no. 11,645, increasing production of materials addressing the cultural astronomy. One of the results of the analysis, it was found that the subjects most often are related to narratives about the workings of the universe and the asterisms (or constellations) of some indigenous ethnic groups, being little in-depth work with recurrent varied structures of thoughts or other worldviews. On the approach to multiculturalism, there\'s been a polarization between a differentialist bias, that values the differences of private groups, and an intercultural attitude. Aims that the work will help to highlight some of the potential of cultural astronomy education in basic education, to enter discussions to cultural diversity in order to train individuals who are less focused on the practices of their own group and more open to the exchange between cultures and knowledge.

A presente pesquisa analisou materiais e propostas didáticas sobre o tema da astronomia cultural, tendo em vista sua inserção no ensino de tópicos de Física e Ciências na educação básica. A astronomia cultural pode ser tomada como o estudo das relações entre os saberes produzidos sobre o céu e as dinâmicas socioculturais de um dado grupo. A existência de uma grande multiplicidade de culturas indica a possibilidade de inúmeras formas de se relacionar com os elementos celestes. Tal diversidade pouco ou raramente é explorada, sendo um dos objetos desta pesquisa evidenciar que as discussões desta temática podem ser potencialmente interessantes para trabalhar em sala de aula a questão do respeito à diversidade cultural, apresentando aos estudantes outras lógicas de pensamento, distintas das referências da cultura ocidental. Foram realizadas revisões bibliográficas a fim de construir um panorama da produção dos pesquisadores da área de ensino de ciências junto aos temas do multiculturalismo e da astronomia cultural. Este procedimento favoreceu o contato com materiais e propostas didáticas que foram selecionadas para comporem o conjunto de dados a ser trabalhado. Com base na metodologia da análise de conteúdo, doze documentos que abordaram a astronomia cultural de maneira articulada ao contexto da sala de aula foram analisados, investigando-se três dimensões de análise. Os questionamentos realizados se relacionam aos seguintes aspectos: principais temas abordados pelos materiais; tipos de perspectivas voltadas ao multiculturalismo e à noção de cultura; o papel de medidas legislativas, a exemplo da Lei Federal nº 11.645/08, no aumento da produção de materiais abordando a astronomia cultural. Dentre os resultados da análise, verificou-se que os temas com maior frequência estão relacionados a narrativas sobre o funcionamento do universo e aos asterismos (ou constelações) de algumas etnias indígenas, sendo pouco recorrente o trabalho aprofundado com variadas estruturas de pensamento ou outras visões de mundo distintas da cultura ocidental. Sobre a abordagem ao multiculturalismo, houve uma polarização entre um viés diferencialista, que valoriza as diferenças particulares dos grupos, e uma postura intercultural, com ênfase no diálogo. Almeja-se que o trabalho possa contribuir para evidenciar algumas das potencialidades do ensino de astronomia cultural na educação básica, ao inserir discussões voltadas a diversidade cultural a fim de formar indivíduos que estejam menos centrados nas práticas de seu próprio grupo e mais abertos ao intercâmbio entre culturas e saberes distintos. / The present research examined materials and didactic proposals on the topic of cultural astronomy, with a view to their inclusion in the teaching of physics and science topics in basic education. Cultural astronomy can be taken as the study of the relationship between knowledge produced about sky and socio-cultural dynamics of a given group. The existence of a great variety of cultures indicates the possibility of numerous ways to relate to the elements of the sky. Such little diversity or is rarely explored, being one of the objects of this research show that discussions of this theme can be potentially interesting to work in the classroom the issue of respect for cultural diversity, showing other students thought logic, other than the reference of Western culture. Bibliographical reviews were carried out in order to build a panorama of the production of the researchers of science teaching with the themes of multiculturalism and cultural astronomy. This procedure favored contact with didactic materials and proposals that have been selected to compose the set of data to be worked. Based on content analysis methodology, twelve documents that addressed cultural Astronomy of articulated way to the context of the classroom were analyzed investigating three dimensions of analysis. The questions made relate to the following aspects: main themes addressed by the materials; types of prospects aimed at multiculturalism and the concept of culture; the role of legislative measures, such as the Federal Law no. 11,645, increasing production of materials addressing the cultural astronomy. One of the results of the analysis, it was found that the subjects most often are related to narratives about the workings of the universe and the asterisms (or constellations) of some indigenous ethnic groups, being little in-depth work with recurrent varied structures of thoughts or other worldviews. On the approach to multiculturalism, there\'s been a polarization between a differentialist bias, that values the differences of private groups, and an intercultural attitude. Aims that the work will help to highlight some of the potential of cultural astronomy education in basic education, to enter discussions to cultural diversity in order to train individuals who are less focused on the practices of their own group and more open to the exchange between cultures and knowledge.

A partir da unidade temática Compreensão Humana do Universo, referida nas Orientações Educacionais Complementares aos Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais do Ensino Médio: Ciências da Natureza, Matemática e suas Tecnologias, capítulo Física, é possível discutir uma série de conceitos presentes em seus objetivos, em especial, sobre os modelos explicativos do universo em diferentes modos de conhecimento. A fim de contribuir com esta discussão, de forma a tratar igualitariamente os diferentes modelos, que o presente trabalho tem como objetivo fornecer subsídios teóricos e metodológicos para o planejamento e implementação de aulas direcionadas para tal unidade temática, a partir de uma abordagem histórica-filosófica e pela perspectiva antropológica da Astronomia Cultural. Para transformar esta intenção em ação foi elaborada uma sequência didática, a qual foi conduzida segundo o processo EAR de validação. A sequência foi aplicada em uma turma de primeiro ano do ensino médio. Os dados da aplicação foram coletados por meio de gravação das aulas, dos diários de aula e do material (desenhos e questionários diagnósticos) produzidos pela turma. A fonte principal de dados foi o material produzido pela turma, o qual foi submetido à análise de conteúdo categorial. Como resultado da análise desse material verificou-se que a sequência didática aplicada, de acordo com os parâmetros adotados para sua elaboração, conseguiu com que a turma caracterizasse e delimitasse os modelos explicativos do universo segundo os tipos de conhecimentos dos quais estes são advindos / From the thematic unit \"Compreensão Humana do Universo\", referred to in the Orientações Educacionais Complementares aos Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais do Ensino Médio: Ciências da Natureza, Matemática e suas Tecnologias, chapter \"Física\", it is possible to discuss a series of concepts present in its objectives, in particular, on the explanatory models of the universe in different models of knowledge. In order to contribute to this discussion, treating the different models equally, the present work aims to provide theoretical and methodological support for the planning and implementation of classes directed to such thematic unit, based on a historical-philosophical approach and by anthropological perspective of Cultural Astronomy. To transform this intention into action, a didactic sequence was elaborated, which was conducted according to the EAR process of validation. The sequence was applied in a first-year High School class. The application data were collected by recording the classes, class diaries and the material (drawings and diagnostic questionnaires) produced by the students. The main source of data was the material produced by the students, which was submitted to Categorical Content Analysis. As a result of the analysis of this material, it was verified that the didactic sequence applied, according to the parameters adopted for its elaboration, enabled the students to characterize and delimit the explanatory models of the universe according to the types of knowledge from which these are derived

A partir da unidade temática Compreensão Humana do Universo, referida nas Orientações Educacionais Complementares aos Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais do Ensino Médio: Ciências da Natureza, Matemática e suas Tecnologias, capítulo Física, é possível discutir uma série de conceitos presentes em seus objetivos, em especial, sobre os modelos explicativos do universo em diferentes modos de conhecimento. A fim de contribuir com esta discussão, de forma a tratar igualitariamente os diferentes modelos, que o presente trabalho tem como objetivo fornecer subsídios teóricos e metodológicos para o planejamento e implementação de aulas direcionadas para tal unidade temática, a partir de uma abordagem histórica-filosófica e pela perspectiva antropológica da Astronomia Cultural. Para transformar esta intenção em ação foi elaborada uma sequência didática, a qual foi conduzida segundo o processo EAR de validação. A sequência foi aplicada em uma turma de primeiro ano do ensino médio. Os dados da aplicação foram coletados por meio de gravação das aulas, dos diários de aula e do material (desenhos e questionários diagnósticos) produzidos pela turma. A fonte principal de dados foi o material produzido pela turma, o qual foi submetido à análise de conteúdo categorial. Como resultado da análise desse material verificou-se que a sequência didática aplicada, de acordo com os parâmetros adotados para sua elaboração, conseguiu com que a turma caracterizasse e delimitasse os modelos explicativos do universo segundo os tipos de conhecimentos dos quais estes são advindos / From the thematic unit \"Compreensão Humana do Universo\", referred to in the Orientações Educacionais Complementares aos Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais do Ensino Médio: Ciências da Natureza, Matemática e suas Tecnologias, chapter \"Física\", it is possible to discuss a series of concepts present in its objectives, in particular, on the explanatory models of the universe in different models of knowledge. In order to contribute to this discussion, treating the different models equally, the present work aims to provide theoretical and methodological support for the planning and implementation of classes directed to such thematic unit, based on a historical-philosophical approach and by anthropological perspective of Cultural Astronomy. To transform this intention into action, a didactic sequence was elaborated, which was conducted according to the EAR process of validation. The sequence was applied in a first-year High School class. The application data were collected by recording the classes, class diaries and the material (drawings and diagnostic questionnaires) produced by the students. The main source of data was the material produced by the students, which was submitted to Categorical Content Analysis. As a result of the analysis of this material, it was verified that the didactic sequence applied, according to the parameters adopted for its elaboration, enabled the students to characterize and delimit the explanatory models of the universe according to the types of knowledge from which these are derived

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The U.S. has a problem: it is not effectively utilizing all the bright young minds available to its science & engineering workforce. In 2012 the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) reported that a million more STEM professionals in the U.S. workforce were needed over the next decade. PCAST reported that the situation is far worse for underrepresented students, who make up 70% of undergraduate students but only 45% of the STEM degrees. Recent reports suggest women in science and engineering have made small gains, while historically underrepresented ethnic groups (Blacks, Hispanics, American Indians) continue to be significantly underrepresented. The lack of diversity in the U.S. workforce is not reflected in the USA population nor is it reflected in the undergraduate student population. As the U.S. aspires to retain a leadership role in research and development in an increasingly diverse and globally interconnected society, this disparity is unsustainable. What if having more culturally interesting, more culturally responsive STEM classes is a way of increasing the diversity of the science and engineering workforce in the U.S.? This study focuses on a topic that has been generally overlooked by the STEM educational community, but one that is directly relevant to student engagement and learning outcomes: the role of culture as a variable in student learning. This study examines how different pedagogical approaches shape student outcomes in Astronomy 101 courses. In a comparative study two different pedagogical approaches were analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative methods in a semiexperimental nonequivalent group research design. The theories of culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP), active learning theory in STEM, and Indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) ground this approach. The findings of this study show important gains for all students. Underrepresented minority students (URM) in the course with increased culturally responsive pedagogy were exceptionally engaged and learning gains soared. By measure of the concept inventory, the URM students in the course with increased culturally responsive pedagogy outperformed all other students in the study. As the U.S. will have a non-white majority by the year 2045 and diversity in STEM faculty lags there is a need for tangible, evidence-based, culture-based curriculum and pedagogy. There is a problem and based on the evidence found in this study, there is a way to fix it. / The U.S. has a problem: it is not effectively utilizing all the bright young minds available to its science & engineering workforce. In 2012 the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) reported that a million more STEM professionals in the U.S. workforce were needed over the next decade. PCAST reported that the situation is far worse for underrepresented students, who make up 70% of undergraduate students but only 45% of the STEM degrees. Recent reports suggest women in science and engineering have made small gains, while historically underrepresented ethnic groups (Blacks, Hispanics, American Indians) continue to be significantly underrepresented. The lack of diversity in the U.S. workforce is not reflected in the USA population nor is it reflected in the undergraduate student population. As the U.S. aspires to retain a leadership role in research and development in an increasingly diverse and globally interconnected society, this disparity is unsustainable. What if having more culturally interesting, more culturally responsive STEM classes is a way of increasing the diversity of the science and engineering workforce in the U.S.? This study focuses on a topic that has been generally overlooked by the STEM educational community, but one that is directly relevant to student engagement and learning outcomes: the role of culture as a variable in student learning. This study examines how different pedagogical approaches shape student outcomes in Astronomy 101 courses. In a comparative study two different pedagogical approaches were analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative methods in a semiexperimental nonequivalent group research design. The theories of culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP), active learning theory in STEM, and Indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) ground this approach. The findings of this study show important gains for all students. Underrepresented minority students (URM) in the course with increased culturally responsive pedagogy were exceptionally engaged and learning gains soared. By measure of the concept inventory, the URM students in the course with increased culturally responsive pedagogy outperformed all other students in the study. As the U.S. will have a non-white majority by the year 2045 and diversity in STEM faculty lags there is a need for tangible, evidence-based, culture-based curriculum and pedagogy. There is a problem and based on the evidence found in this study, there is a way to fix it.