How Do Preservice Teachers’ Religious Beliefs Affect Their Understanding of Astronomy?

Abstract

This article describes research on conceptions of preservice science teachers in their fourth year of undergraduate studies relating to: whether Earth is the center of the Universe; whether the sky is a literal vault or dome; whether Earth is flat or round; the timeline of the formation of the Universe; and the age of the Earth. The results, which indicate that religion has a strong influence on teachers’ astronomical beliefs, are quite startling and potentially helpful to professors of astronomy who have an opportunity to correct preservice teachers’ misconceptions before these teachers go into the field.