Speaker
Description
Learning astronomy presents various challenges that students must overcome to transition from novice to expert. Extensive research has attempted to address these challenges, although most prior studies focussed on documenting students’ incorrect reasoning outcomes (‘misconceptions’). Few studies sought to understand the fundamental nature of student reasoning about astronomical phenomena. The present study investigates the nature and origins of first-year astronomy students’ (N = 86) ideas and reasoning employed when constructing multi-causal explanations about the seasons. Following a grounded analysis, we (a) identified and grouped student ideas into broader idea categories, (b) grouped student explanations into themes and (c) developed a methodological approach to analyze student explanations for logical coherence and explanatory quality. Preliminary findings show that most students (59%, 51/86) provided largely complete, coherent, logically sound explanations which were deemed either developing or well developed in quality. However, students commonly constructed their explanations using the intuitive, albeit incorrect, distance-based account (48%; 41/86). We locate these findings within the Knowledge in Pieces (KiP) perspective, noting that when students reasoned using distance, the p-prim (phenomenological primitive) “closer = hotter” was cued to the active state. Importantly, the present work considers student intuitions to be valuable cognitive resources which, even in the face of unproductive activations, do not singularly lead to simple-minded explanations (it is in fact hotter the closer you get to a fire). Future work will expand the analysis to other multi-causal astronomical phenomena, including (1) differences in the apparent brightness of stars, (2) twinkling and (3) black holes.
| Apply for student award at which level: | PhD |
|---|---|
| Consent on use of personal information: Abstract Submission | Yes, I ACCEPT |