A Summer Camp Experience of Primary Student: Let's Learn Astronomy, Explore the Space Summer Camp (original) (raw)

Astronomy Education for Preschool Children: Exploring the Sky

lnternational Electronic Journal of Elementary Education

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of astronomy activities in science education with preschool children through semi-structured interviews. The interviews were conducted with the children before and after the implementation of the activities. Five activities about astronomy were conducted for five weeks in practice. A total of 15 preschool children (seven boys and eight girls) in the age range from 60 to 72 months participated in the study. Semi-structured interviews were individually conducted, digitally recorded, transcribed, and analyzed by the researchers of the study. The related data were collected by semi-structured interviews prepared by the researchers of the study. It was revealed that the preschool children were curious about the "Discovery of the Sky" subject. They were interested and enthusiastic to learn the subject matter, and they were positively affected by the practices. It has been concluded that new concepts related to the subject of "Discovery of the Sky" have developed by using different methods and techniques.

Children's knowledge of astronomy and its change in the course of learning

Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 2007

This study examined the nature of 5-, 6-, and 7-year-old children's (n = 113) knowledge of astronomy and the process of knowledge change during learning. Children's pre-existing knowledge was assessed by questions and drawing tasks. About half of the children were taught elementary concepts of astronomy in small groups and afterwards all participants' knowledge was assessed again. Most children could be categorized as having fragmented astronomy knowledge and the proportion of non-scientific models first proposed by . Mental models of the Earth: A study of conceptual change in childhood. Cognitive Psychology, 24, was no greater than could be expected by chance. Children seemed to acquire factual information rather easily and therefore early instruction should introduce the core facts related to the topics. Some children over-generalized new knowledge very easily, indicating that the materials used in teaching may promote the development of non-scientific notions and that those notions must be addressed promptly to avoid the development of coherent non-scientific models.

Alternative Conceptions of Elementary school students in Astronomy

EPRA International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (IJMR), 2021

Students do not come into formal instruction without any pre-instructional knowledge or beliefs about the phenomena and concepts to be taught in astronomy. Besides, Children develop their everyday concepts about the world based on daily observations, from text books and conversations with adults. During the process of acquisition of this knowledge, learners may view the world in the form of weird concepts which are deviant from accepted notion of knowledge, termed as alternative conceptions or alternative frameworks or misconceptions. The acquired knowledge of elementary astronomy is a part of basic scientific literacy. Alternative conceptions in astronomy are a road block to new scientific learning. If the alternative conceptions are not addressed at the elementary level, the probability of sustaining the alternative conceptions may continue at higher learning as well. Therefore, it is important for teachers to have a clear understanding of the alternative conceptions that students bring with them into the science classroom. This research paper attempts to identify alternative conceptions of elementary school students in certain astronomical topics like apparent motion of sun and moon, day and night, seasons, phases of the moon etc. The sample consists of 56 seventh grade students from a school in Hyderabad. An Astronomy test consisting of six open ended questions prepared by the researcher was administered to the students. Students’ responses were analysed to elicit information about their knowledge and understanding of astronomical phenomena and to identify any alternative conceptions held by them. Results showed that students exhibited many alternative conceptions about these astronomical phenomena. Implications and recommendations were made for teachers to integrate well – constructed pedagogical design in the teaching - learning process, so that alternative conceptions in elementary astronomy could be redirected to conceptual change among learners.

Middle School Students’ Misconceptions about the Concepts of Astronomy

International Education Studies, 2018

The purpose of the current study is to conduct developmental comparison of the middle school students’ misconceptions about the concepts of astronomy. The sampling of the study is comprised of middle school students attending a private school located in the west of Turkey. A total of 144 students participated in the study. In order to determine the students’ perceptions of the concepts of astronomy, a data collection tool consisting of five open-ended questions was developed by the researchers. The data collected through this data collection tool was subjected to content analysis; on the basis of the analysis of the students’ responses, codes were determined and on the basis of these codes, themes were constructed. The results are presented as percentages and frequencies. When the findings of the study were generally evaluated, it was concluded that the students have misconceptions about the concepts of astronomy.

Young Children’s Ideas About Astronomy

Journal of Astronomy & Earth Sciences Education (JAESE)

Young children express interest and understanding about science topics through everyday conversations with parents. Little is known about how much interest preschool-aged children show in astronomy. Using a diary report methodology, we asked parents in three communities in coastal California to keep track of conversations with their three to five-year-old children about nature. The communities varied in demographics, including one community with predominantly European-American families, one community with predominantly Latinx families, and one community with families from a variety of backgrounds. Overall, young children showed interest in astronomy through initiation and engagement in conversations about a variety of astronomical objects and events; this was consistent across gender, age, and community. Across all three communities, conversations about astronomy accounted for approximately 15% of the conversations about nature, ranking in the top three most frequent topics for each...

Teaching/Learning Astronomy at the Elementary School Level

International Astronomical Union Colloquium

There are those who argue that children have little familiarity with the sky and that the study of astronomy should be put off until they're older. We believe, on the other hand, that children have an intimate daily rapport with the sky, the sun and moon especially, based on genuine affection for these celestial bodies which is often expressed in their fantasies, reminiscent of ancient mythology and present-day primitive cultures. Their initial conceptions of celestial objects and phenomena bring to mind ancient philosophical conceptions and the kind of erroneous thinking induced by present-day culture and mass media, and make us aware of how difficult it is to develop personal perceptions and of the powerful emotions that prevent or inhibit us from building new ones.

Daily life astronomy activity and its contribution to children and educators in science education

EPJ Web of Conferences, 2019

Daily life astronomy activity in nurseries and after school care clubs has many aspects to improve children's and educator's scientific views and skills. Though these activities are casual and ordinary ones for many nurseries and after school care clubs, aspects of science education are found in many ways reflecting the activity referring to the UNAWE Evaluation Guide. This indicates that if we intend to promote science education in nurseries and preschools, we do not necessarily have to introduce new activity, but that the formative assessment to pick up science in daily life activities is sufficient. This can encourage educators to be selfconfident in implementing science education. The improvement of selfconfidence is observed in teacher-training students of primary and preschool education during university class when they learned that they already had skills for daily life astronomy education. Thus, daily life astronomy education is not only an interesting and exciting activity for children but it also contributes to improving the educator's confidence and hence their skills of science education.

Small Astronomers (science education in early childhood)

Children are inherently curious about science subjects, and astronomy offers an interesting theme within these subjects. In this context it is thought that understanding the preschool child's knowledge about astronomy may be a starting point for astronomy education at a young age. The purpose of this research is to investigate children's knowledge about the basic astronomy concepts. The study was undertaken with 103 children aged 4-6 years, attending various lower and upper socioeconomic level public and private preschools. The data of the study were collected using the AKTPC test created by the researchers, and analyzed using ANOVA and T-test. At the end of study, age and gender variables didn't lead to a significiant difference in terms of the astronomy knowledge of the children, whereas there was a significiant difference in favor of children at the upper socioeconomic level. Also, it was seen that children were aware of basic astronomy concepts, and they used their ability in terms of the scientific process to explain astronomic events.

Astronomy Education: Research Paving the Road to Enthusiasm for Studying Science

Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, 2010

A brief analysis is given of the need for more trained people in science and technology versus the declined interest in studying sciences. In highlighting some of the aspects of research in astronomy, arguments are presented why astronomy education is by far the most attractive way to stimulate young people to study sciences later on. The availability of vast sets of scientific data with software instruments for instructional use is emphasized. Attention is also given to the changing world of young people, and to the needs and problems in Africa. Finally, some conclusions are given of how astronomy can contribute to transform education in sciences into an education for young people that attracts them towards science & technology.