Design Principles, Implementation and Evaluation for Inquiry-Based Astronomy

Abstract

This thesis is situated in the context of an Australian high school level astronomy intervention project which aimed to enable students to undertake real science with professional grade 2-metre class telescopes. The thesis explores the context and background within which the project was situated and the main blocking factors preventing successful implementation culminating in an outline of the education design used in, and the evaluation of, the project. This work has illustrated that with careful design and sufficient teacher training and support, inquiry-based astronomy can feasibly be undertaken in the high-school classroom