A New Comparison Of Active Learning Strategies To Traditional Lectures For Teaching College Astronomy

Although traditional lectures are still the dominant form of undergraduate instruction, there have been relatively few studies comparing various learner-centered and active learning teaching strategies to one another in order to guide professors in making informed instructional decisions. To study the impact of different active learning approaches, pre-test to posttest learning gains for students receiving instruction on introductory astronomy solar system topics through a combination of collaborative learning activities and formative assessment-driven activities were compared to the gains of students being taught the same topics by traditional lectures only. After traditional lectures, students improved from a pre-test score of 42% (n=144) to 49% (n=49). After lecture tutorials and classroom voting response systems improvement was to 73% (n=72) Using a multiple-group comparison approach, similar earning gains were also observed when using visual-assessment and tutorial activities. Moreover, data from a Likert-style attitude survey of 264 undergraduates showed that, although they did not report a clear preference for one instructional mode over the other, the majority of students believed that the active and collaborative nature of the activities helped them learn.  The results of this study add weight to the notion that most modern pedagogies are superior to traditional lecture, and that although the relative impacts of particular pedagogies are mostly indistinguishable from one another, they are all are better than traditional lecture alone

Comparing modern methods of active & collaborative learning & learner-centered teaching to traditional lectures

The main goals of this project are; to develop and assess the effectiveness of learner centered activities for introductory astronomy that focus on solar system topics and; to test the methods of learner-centered instruction themselves through the implementation of these activities and their assessments. The intended end of the project is to have developed entire solar system :"unit" consisting of learner-centered activities on solar system topics that have been tested for their effectiveness. Since 2000, many resources for active and collaborative learning in introductory astronomy have been developed. This is especially true for two of the four the main sections of a traditional introductory college astronomy course, the observed motions in the sky and light, the Sun and stars. There is currently considered to be a dearth of activities pertaining specifically to solar system topics, also considered one of the four main sections of a traditional course. For instance, the leading Lecture-Tutorial (LT) workbook (Prather et al., 2007) has 38 LTs, 14 of them, 37% are about topics related to the observed motions in the sky and 16, 42% are topics related to light, the Sun and stars. Of the remaining 8, only 4, 11%, are about topics traditionally covered in a solar system unit, one each on the Earth's surface, the formation of the solar system, the size and scale of solar system objects and extra solar planets. There are tutorials on planetary motion and gravity, but these are topics generally covered in the earlier motions and history unit. The last 4 LTs are about galaxies and cosmology. Research investigating student pre-instruction beliefs and reasoning difficulties in cosmology, considered the fourth main section of a traditional astronomy course, is also underway as is the development and assessment of instructional materials. (CATS projects/ Research on Students Beliefs and Reasoning Difficulties related to Cosmology http://astronomy101.jpl.nasa.gov/cats/projects/) Another reason for development of more material covering solar system topics is for research to better understand student learning in these areas. An assessment instrument the Solar System Concepts Inventory, SSCI that is under development and preliminary testing will eventually be used for this purpose. The availability of more material to assess will aid in the validation of the survey and then the survey itself will in turn aid in the development of even more new materials. (CATS projects / Solar System Concept Inventory (SSCI) & Solar System Lecture-Tutorials Project,http://astronomy101.jpl.nasa.gov/cats/projects/) Assessment instruments on light and spectra, the Light and Spectroscopy Inventory, LSCI (Bardar et al., 2007), and stellar topics, the Star Properties Concept Inventory, SPCI (Bailey, 2008), already exist and have been field tested (Bardar, 2008), used in research (Prather et al., 2008, Prather et al. 2009), and used to test instruction materials (Barder & Brecher 2008, LoPresto & Murrell, 2009) as does a good amount of instructional material on these topics. (Prather et al., 2007). Assessment instruments on cosmology are also under development. (Wallace et al., 2011). The activities developed, implemented and assessed for this project, in the order that they were assigned during a solar system unit, are; 1-The HFCC Solar System Walk 2-Comparative Planetology 3-Formation of the Solar System 4-Extra-Solar Planets 5-Comets 6-Surface Conditions of Terrestrial Planets 1-Planetary Geology 2-Planetary Atmospheres A pilot research project that was designed and undertaken to test the viability of this project consisted of using active and collaborative instructional materials that were already in existence on other topics and testing them with an already existing and established assessment instrument. Based on the number of Lecture-Tutorials (LTs) available on the subjects of light, the Sun and stars (Prather et al., 2007) and the existence of an already established concept inventory, the Star Properties Concept Inventory (SPCI) (Bailey, 2008), light, the Sun and stars, usually the third 'unit' of a general education introductory astronomy course, was chosen. The experimental design of the different studies in this project is similar to that of the pilot project. In general, students were given pretest and posttest assessments so gains in groups receiving different methods of instruction could be compared. The scores of students who did the activities were compared to students that did not do the activities and were rather taught the same topics through more traditional lectures. The assessment instrument used was the Solar System Survey, 25-item multiple-choice items on solar system topics developed and validated for this project to test the instructional materials developed and the instructional methods they employ. In efforts to minimize instructor bias and the Hawthorn Effect (Hake, 1998, from Slavin, 1992) different instructors involved in the studies were assigned to teach different sections both by lecture and by learner-centered methods. Also, in the final trials of each study, the author taught none of the sections involved. The statistical significance of results were evaluated in two ways. When the performance of two groups on a set of assessment questions was being compared, the average score of each group and the standard error were calculated. The standard errors were considered the error-bars around each average. The less overlap in the error bars, the more significant the result. If there was no overlap the difference in the average scores of the two groups was considered statistically significant. When the results of different groups on specific assessment items were compared the statistical significance of results were evaluated by chi-squared tests with 2 x2 contingency tables. The numbers of students giving correct and incorrect responses in each group were put into 2 x 2 contingency tables that were used to calculate. P-values. The lower the P-value the more significant the result, P=0.05 being considered the maximum value for a significant result

Comparing modern methods of active & collaborative learning & learner-centered teaching to traditional lectures

The main goals of this project are; to develop and assess the effectiveness of learner centered activities for introductory astronomy that focus on solar system topics and; to test the methods of learner-centered instruction themselves through the implementation of these activities and their assessments. The intended end of the project is to have developed entire solar system :""unit"" consisting of learner-centered activities on solar system topics that have been tested for their effectiveness. Since 2000, many resources for active and collaborative learning in introductory astronomy have been developed. This is especially true for two of the four the main sections of a traditional introductory college astronomy course, the observed motions in the sky and light, the Sun and stars. There is currently considered to be a dearth of activities pertaining specifically to solar system topics, also considered one of the four main sections of a traditional course. For instance, the leading Lecture-Tutorial (LT) workbook (Prather et al., 2007) has 38 LTs, 14 of them, 37% are about topics related to the observed motions in the sky and 16, 42% are topics related to light, the Sun and stars. Of the remaining 8, only 4, 11%, are about topics traditionally covered in a solar system unit, one each on the Earth's surface, the formation of the solar system, the size and scale of solar system objects and extra solar planets. There are tutorials on planetary motion and gravity, but these are topics generally covered in the earlier motions and history unit. The last 4 LTs are about galaxies and cosmology. Research investigating student pre-instruction beliefs and reasoning difficulties in cosmology, considered the fourth main section of a traditional astronomy course, is also underway as is the development and assessment of instructional materials. (CATS projects/ Research on Students Beliefs and Reasoning Difficulties related to Cosmology http://astronomy101.jpl.nasa.gov/cats/projects/) Another reason for development of more material covering solar system topics is for research to better understand student learning in these areas. An assessment instrument the Solar System Concepts Inventory, SSCI that is under development and preliminary testing will eventually be used for this purpose. The availability of more material to assess will aid in the validation of the survey and then the survey itself will in turn aid in the development of even more new materials. (CATS projects / Solar System Concept Inventory (SSCI) & Solar System Lecture-Tutorials Project,http://astronomy101.jpl.nasa.gov/cats/projects/) Assessment instruments on light and spectra, the Light and Spectroscopy Inventory, LSCI (Bardar et al., 2007), and stellar topics, the Star Properties Concept Inventory, SPCI (Bailey, 2008), already exist and have been field tested (Bardar, 2008), used in research (Prather et al., 2008, Prather et al. 2009), and used to test instruction materials (Barder & Brecher 2008, LoPresto & Murrell, 2009) as does a good amount of instructional material on these topics. (Prather et al., 2007). Assessment instruments on cosmology are also under development. (Wallace et al., 2011). The activities developed, implemented and assessed for this project, in the order that they were assigned during a solar system unit, are; 1-The HFCC Solar System Walk 2-Comparative Planetology 3-Formation of the Solar System 4-Extra-Solar Planets 5-Comets 6-Surface Conditions of Terrestrial Planets 1-Planetary Geology 2-Planetary Atmospheres A pilot research project that was designed and undertaken to test the viability of this project consisted of using active and collaborative instructional materials that were already in existence on other topics and testing them with an already existing and established assessment instrument. Based on the number of Lecture-Tutorials (LTs) available on the subjects of light, the Sun and stars (Prather et al., 2007) and the existence of an already established concept inventory, the Star Properties Concept Inventory (SPCI) (Bailey, 2008), light, the Sun and stars, usually the third 'unit' of a general education introductory astronomy course, was chosen. The experimental design of the different studies in this project is similar to that of the pilot project. In general, students were given pretest and posttest assessments so gains in groups receiving different methods of instruction could be compared. The scores of students who did the activities were compared to students that did not do the activities and were rather taught the same topics through more traditional lectures. The assessment instrument used was the Solar System Survey, 25-item multiple-choice items on solar system topics developed and validated for this project to test the instructional materials developed and the instructional methods they employ. In efforts to minimize instructor bias and the Hawthorn Effect (Hake, 1998, from Slavin, 1992) different instructors involved in the studies were assigned to teach different sections both by lecture and by learner-centered methods. Also, in the final trials of each study, the author taught none of the sections involved.The statistical significance of results were evaluated in two ways. When the performance of two groups on a set of assessment questions was being compared, the average score of each group and the standard error were calculated. The standard errors were considered the error-bars around each average. The less overlap in the error bars, the more significant the result. If there was no overlap the difference in the average scores of the two groups was considered statistically significant. When the results of different groups on specific assessment items were compared the statistical significance of results were evaluated by chi-squared tests with 2 x2 contingency tables. The numbers of students giving correct and incorrect responses in each group were put into 2 x 2 contingency tables that were used to calculate. P-values. The lower the P-value the more significant the result, P=0.05 being considered the maximum value for a significant result

Using visual assessments and tutorials to teach solar\ud system concepts in introductory astronomy

Visual assessments and tutorials are instruments that rely on student construction and/or examination of pictures and/or diagrams rather than multiple choice and/or short answer questions. Being a very visual subject, astronomy lends itself to assessments and tutorials of this type. What follows is a report on the results of the use of visual assessments and tutorials for instruction on two specific solar system topics in introductory astronomy: the orbits of comets and extrasolar planets

A First Glimpse of Student Attitudes about Pluto’s “Demotion”

During the fall 2006 semester, following the International Astronomical Union’s decision to no longer classify Pluto as one of our Solar System’s planets, the author asked two sections of introductory astronomy students whether they thought that Pluto should still be considered a planet and why. This brief contribution describes the students’ responses to the decision at two points in the semester, before and after coverage of the Solar System

Selected Resources for a Student-Centered Introductory Astronomy Course

During the transition from an instructor-centered to a student-centered introductory astronomy course, decisions have to be made about which topics can be covered by using activities and, because activities take time, which topics can be minimized or left out altogether. Here are some of the choices made by one instructor during such a transition, along with some useful resources found in the process

Teaching the Scientific Method in Introductory Astronomy

An important goal for many instructors of introductory astronomy courses for nonscience majors is exposing students to the methods and process of science. This article describes a method for using the concepts of astronomy to demonstrate the scientific process at the beginning of an introductory astronomy course so that students will be able to use the process throughout the rest of the course