The Gateway Science: a Review of Astronomy in the OECD School Curricula, Including China and South Africa

Salimpour, Saeed; Bartlett, Sophie; Fitzgerald, Michael T.; McKinnon, David; Cutts, Karen; James, C. Renee; Miller, Scott T.; Danaia, Lena; Hollow, Robert; Cabezon, Sergio; Faye, M.; Tomita, Akihiko; Max, Charles; Korte, Michael de; Baudouin, Cyrille; Birkenbauma, Daina; Kallery, Maria; Anjos, Sara Joana Gadotti dos; Wu, Qixuan; Chu, Hye‐Eun; Slater, Eileen; Ortiz-Gil, A.

doi:10.1007/s11165-020-09922-0

Cited by 25 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…This paper presents the development and validation of a concept inventory instrument about the phases of the moon intended for students aged 10 to 14 years old. The rationale behind this choice of topic and age group is the fact that the concept of lunar phases is present in the curriculum, at the end of elementary (middle school) and the beginning of high school, in most jurisdictions in Canada [2], in the United States [3,4], and in many member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) [5]. This means there is a real need for an assessment tool that can be used to measure knowledge possessed by students of that age group about lunar phases.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development and validation of the moon phases concept inventory for middle school

Chastenay

Riopel

2020

Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res.

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We present the development and validation of a new assessment tool, the Moon Phases Concept Inventory for Middle School (MPCI-MS), a concept inventory about the phases of the moon targeting students aged 10 to 14 years old. Items in the questionnaire are based on a careful examination of the concept domain of phases of the moon, ideas and concepts necessary to understand the mechanism of lunar phases, as chosen by a panel of seven professional astronomers. Questions and multiple-choice answers were tested for readability with 5th grade students, tested for reading level, and submitted to a second panel of professional astronomers to check for face and construct validity of the items. The MPCI-MS was tested with N ¼ 296 students from grade 5 in elementary school to secondary 2 (M age ¼ 10.2 to 14.1). One item about global perspective on lunar phases had to be removed because of poor psychometric properties. The revised MPCI-MS has a post-test Cronbach alpha score of 0.786 and good overall psychometric properties: the mean difficulty index for the MPCI-MS pretest is 0.47, and 0.61 for the post-test; mean point-biserial correlation (post-test) is 0.376. Test-retest without instruction at one-week interval showed high test-retest reliability [M pre ¼ 13.696, M post ¼ 14.523; tð45Þ ¼ 1.315, p ¼ 0.192]. We conclude that the MPCI-MS is a reliable and valid instrument that can discriminate between novices and experts, and can be used to assess 10 to 14 year-old students' learning gains on the topic of lunar phases. The final version of MPCI-MS is a 19-item instrument, including two new questions about eclipses, that takes between 15 and 25 min for students to complete.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development and validation of the moon phases concept inventory for middle school

Chastenay

Riopel

2020

Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res.

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“…This paper compares the science curriculum of the Philippines and with that of Japan to present the discussion points for development of science education in the Philippines. The curriculum comparison study is growing globally (e.g., SALIMPOUR et al, 2020). This case study can be useful to other developing countries aiming at improving science and Astronomy school education.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of Astronomy school education curricula between Philippines and Japan

Crisostomo

Uenoyama

Sagisaka

et al. 2020

RELEA

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Como um estudo de caso para países em desenvolvimento com o objetivo de melhorar a educação escolar em ciências e Astronomia, comparamos os currículos de ciências escolares das Filipinas e do Japão. As Filipinas recentemente mudaram seu currículo nacional com o objetivo de fortalecer o ensino de ciências. O Japão, por outro lado, já possui um currículo nacional respeitável e continua sendo um dos países de destaque no ensino de ciências. Da mesma forma, o ensino superior e o ensino informal de Astronomia dos dois países foram revisados quanto a semelhanças e diferenças. Os Standards Curriculares Nacionais das Filipinas e do Japão e os livros científicos aprovados pelos governos foram usados na análise de suas respectivas competências em aprendizado de Astronomia. Os resultados mostram que os tópicos relacionados à Astronomia nos dois países são quase os mesmos, mas os estudantes filipinos têm mais tempo e exposição aos conceitos de Astronomia em comparação aos estudantes japoneses. Por outro lado, o Japão é rico em apresentações de pesquisas por parte de alunos no Ensino Médio. O Japão oferece mais oportunidades e facilidades aos estudantes que desejam seguir o ensino e a pesquisa em Astronomia. Parece que esses antecedentes são a base para um ambiente de pesquisa em Astronomia mais rico no Japão.

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“…The notion of astronomy as being a "Gateway Science" has been used to highlight how astronomy can be used to re-invigorate the science classroom, pique the curiosity of the students and engage them with science in general (NRC, 2001(NRC, , 2011Salimpour et al, 2018bSalimpour et al, , 2020. The richness and mystery of topics in astronomy provides a springboard into various concepts in science from basic motion to optics and beyond.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This paper provides an overview and results from an 11-week astronomy elective implemented in a Year 8 classroom at a non-governmental school in regional Victoria. A review of curricula from around the OECD, shows that middle school science curricula often include topics on light, colour and the basics of optics (Salimpour et al, 2020). This elective allowed those concepts to be taught within the rich and practical landscape of astronomical imaging.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Capturing the Cosmos: Teaching Astronomy (and more) through Astrophotography in Middle School

Salimpour¹

2019

RTSRE Proceedings

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The Universe provides a canvas for exploration, it sets the stage waiting to be captured and explored by imagination and science. Its capacity to provide innate aesthetically pleasing visuals and the mysteries they hold, piques the curiosity of everyone. This paper provides an overview and results from an astronomy elective as implemented in a middle school classroom over the course of 11 weeks, at a non-governmental school in regional Victoria, Australia. Students who previously had no exposure to astronomy or image processing used the Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO) network of robotic remote telescopes to capture images of astronomical objects and processed them to create colour images. The preliminary Learning Progression (LP) focusing on inquiry skills and the results of the student project are highlighted.

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The Gateway Science: a Review of Astronomy in the OECD School Curricula, Including China and South Africa

Cited by 25 publications

References 37 publications

Development and validation of the moon phases concept inventory for middle school

Development and validation of the moon phases concept inventory for middle school

Comparison of Astronomy school education curricula between Philippines and Japan

Capturing the Cosmos: Teaching Astronomy (and more) through Astrophotography in Middle School

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