Abstract
Kinetic Structural Analysis is a theory of structure in verbal communication and teaching developed by Anderson of Columbia University. It is based on an analytical approach and utilizes mathematical coefficients to quantitatively express the amount of structure in a communication. The amount of kinetic structure is proportional to the number of verbal elements linking the discourses or statements to each other and the distribution of alien concept words throughout communication. Based on the theory, the purposes of this study was to examine if various kinetic structured patterns of span organization in teaching astronomy affect knowledge acquisition. Three forms of kinetic structure, namely: Initial integration, terminal integration and distributed integration. Three fields of astronomy were used: the earth's environment, stellar evolution and cosmology. Ninety-six college students divided into three groups were used in the experiments. Each group was subjected to all three fields of astronomy and to three structural models of integration. A free-recall knowledge test was used to assess the effects of the structure treatments of the three integrative organizations. It was found that the distributed integrative design as predicted from the other two integrative models. It has also demonstrated feasibility of using kinetic structural Analysis in prescribing conceptual patterns of organization in teaching astronomy and examining their effects on knowledge acquisition in a quantitative way.
