Department of Science Education The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30601

Abstract

As the number of secondary school students enrolled in earth science education courses increases in the United States (Qutub, 1972), more attention is being paid to educational research dealing with the development of curriculum materials, teaching strategies, evaluation techniques, and alternative learning environments in the field of earth science education.The majority of research in earth science education has been devoted to the geological aspects of the earth sciences, with relatively little research being devoted to the oceanographic, meteorological, and astronomical aspects of the earth sciences.The purpose of this article will be to review the research studies related to astronomy education at all educational levels, and to make recommendations for continued research in this area. The studies reviewed have been generally classified into the following categories: elementary school studies (grades K-6); secondary school studies (grades 7-12); and college-level studies (grades 13-16, including those studies pertaining to adult education).An extensive review of the research literature covering a fifty year period has identified a total of 58 studies related to various aspects of astronomy education. Twenty-one of the studies were conducted at the elementary school level, 19 studies were conducted at the secondary school level, and 18 studies were conducted at the college level.Of the 58 studies reviewed, 37 were doctoral studies, 17 were master's studies, and four of the studies were not conducted as degree program requirements. Nine studies reported in the literature were the result of doctoral dissertations or master's theses efforts.The 58 studies reviewed in this article have further been classified as to whether they are status studies, achievement studies, or curriculum development studies. Thirty-one of the studies were classified as achievement studies, 15 were classified as curriculum development studies, and 12 were classified as status studies. ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ASTRONOMY STUDIES A review of the literature related to astronomy education has identified 21 studies that were conducted at the elementary school level. Three of the studies were status studies, 16 of the studies 653

Overview of the Astronomy Education Research landscape

“…The present work deals with review articles published in Astronomy Education Research (AER), their results and suggestions. Examples of surveys and summary reviews are: Wall (1973); Bishop (1977); Bailey & Slater (2004); Bailey, Prather & Slater (2014); Slater (2008); Lelliott & Rollnick (2010); Franknoi (2014). Some articles also published reviews about students' conceptions of astronomy concepts as Trumper (2001).…”