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Astronomy’s Conceptual Hierarchy
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Metadata
Title
Astronomy's Conceptual Hierarchy
Abstract
Why are the fundamental concepts of astronomy so difficult for our students? Many teachers of astronomy at pre-college and college levels view students as illprepared for their courses. Students do not understand fundamental concepts on which teachers hope to build. Students are not familiar with the motions in the heavens, the moon's phases, the earth's seasons, the nature of light, or the sizes and scale of astronomical systems. The graphical and visual representations that we use throughout our courses (spectra, light curves, H-R diagrams) appear foreign and strange. Equations and simple order-of-magnitude estimations are within the experience of our students, but are rarely useful to them or reproducible by them.
Date
01/01/1996
Citation
Sadler, P. M. (1996). Astronomy’s Conceptual Hierarchy. In J. A. Percy, Astronomy education: current developments, future coordination Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference Series (Vol. 89, pp.46-60). San Francisco, CA: ASP
Type of Publication
Author(s)
Sadler, Philip M.
Construct
Cognitive Processes | Reasoning | Representations/Visualisations
Methodology
Research Setting
Target Group
Students > College Students | Students > Middle School Students | Students > Secondary School Students
Institution(s)
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Peer-Reviewed Status
Volume
89
Conference Title
Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference Series: Astronomy education: current developments, future coordination
Conference Location
College Park, MD
Conference Proceeding Type
Resource Type
Nation(s) of Study
United States of America
Language
English
Conference Date
24-25 June 1994