Introducing the moon to South African natural science classrooms
Date
2009-04-08T11:36:42Z
Authors
Kelfkens, Lesley
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Abstract
This dissertation concerns the the problem that natural science teachers with
limited astronomy backgrounds have to teach new curriculum content about
lunar motion, phases and eclipses. My study aims to establish: 60 teachers’
knowledge of lunar phenomena through surveys; whether an intervention
incorporating models and activities is effective at improving a case study
group’s understandings; how the case study teachers use these activities and
models in the classroom. My results indicate that the majority of natural
science teachers have little formal astronomy education. Only two teachers
held a scientific understanding of lunar phenomena. The intervention led
towards a more scientific understanding amongst the case study group. Scale
is essential for developing an understanding of lunar phenomena and models
are extremely beneficial, but participants experience spatial problems when
viewing models from an external perspective. I propose in-service training in
small groups for building knowledge and increasing confidence for teaching
this content.
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Keywords
Astronomy, curriculum, Moon, phases, eclipses, models, scale