Assessing Methods of Instruction of Solar System Concepts Michael C. LoPresto 2009 HOU Annual Conference Yerkes Observatory

Assessing Methods of Instruction of Solar System Concepts

Michael C. LoPresto

2009 HOU Annual Conference Yerkes Observatory

Verifying the Principles of How People Learn

and How Students Learn-Science though Assessments of Lecture Tutorials

on Solar System Concepts& Astronomical Misconceptions

How People Learn

National Academies

Learning Environments

1-Learner-Centered2-Knowledge-Centered3-Assessment-Centered4-Community-Centered

How Students LearnScience in the Classroom

National Academy of Science

Good Science Instruction1-Deal with Preconceptions;

diagnostic assessment

2-Active & Collaborative; Inquiry based

3-Reflection; Formative Assessments

Part 1:Lecture Tutorialsby Edward E. Prather, Tim P. Slater, Jeff Adams, Gina Brissenden, and the Conceptual Astronomy and Physics Education Research

(CAPER) team a) elicit student misconceptions b) confront incomplete, or inaccurate ideas, c) resolve these contradictions, d) demonstrate to students the power of their

conceptual models.

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Lecture-Tutorials “How-To”

Lecture for approximately 20 minutes on the core required background knowledge

Ask conceptually challenging, multiple-choice questions

Have students work in pairs-LTs take, on average, five minutes per page-Call Time!

Debrief; Give students a few minutes to ask questions; Ask them a series of questions





http://astronomy101.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm







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Testing the Pedagogy

Star Properties Concept Inventory (SPCI)-by Janelle Bailey

Assessments;diagnosticformative-”clickers”summative

11-Tutorials from LTIA-(Prather et. Al)vs.

Lectures

Pre;[N=89]=27%Post;Lec. [N=47]-57%; g=0.4Tut. [N=41]-63%; g=0.5

(without clickers-g~0.3) -formative assessment!

Students Scoring 0-23

0.0

5.0

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1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23

Score

% Scoring

pretestpost-lec

post-tut

Normalized Gains (g)

-0.200

0.000

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1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22

Item Number

Normalized Gain

g-lecg-tut

Solar System Topics

Size & Scale-Solar System WalkPlanet Types-Comparative PlanetologyFormationExtra Solar PlanetsDebrisTerrestrial PlanetsJovian Planets

Turning a Lecture into a Tutorial

Write out Lecture

Write out main points you want to teach

Turn into sequence of questions

Test with students

Formation of Solar System Planets form from the leftovers of star formation Distance from the sun controls temperature Temperature controls what materials condense Inside rock-metal condensation line-no planet Beyond r/m line; inside frost line-rock/metal only Beyond f-line, ices form on rock-metal cores Inside f-line; higher temperatures, gases move moving too fast to

capture-Terrestrial Planets. Beyond the f-lin; lower temperatures, gases move slowly, captured by

larger objects-Jovian Planets. Jovian planets more-evolved The different temperatures at different distances from the sun is the

most important factor Not all materials become part of a planet or planetary-system;

asteroids, comets,meteors.





Tutorial





AssessmentQuestions

Summative Assessment Results



Solar System Formation

0

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90

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Item

% correct

pretestpost.-lec.

post.-tut.

Formation-Normalized Gains

-0.100

0.000

0.100

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normalized gain-g

g-lec.

g-tut.

Surface Conditions of Terrestrial Planets


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Summative Assessments











Part 2:Visual Assessments & Tutorials

Comets & Extra Solar Planets





Comets

Diagnostic Assessment

Make sure that your drawing clearly shows any differences between the size of the coma and length of the tail and the direction

the tail is pointing.



[N=93]

46% common

misconception

23%-tail direction13%-tail size4%-coma size





Tutorial vs. Lecture





Formative Assessment

Percent Correct

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

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80

1 2 3 4

Item Number

% correct

pretestpost-lec.

post-tut.

Normalized Gains-g

0

0.1

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1 2 3

Item

gg-lec.g-tut.

N=93 N=40 N=47 pretest Lec.-post Tut. -post g-lec. g-tut. 1 Coma size 4% 18% 46% 0.15 0.46 2 Tail size 13% 33% 70% 0.33 0.66 3 Tail dir. 23% 65% 76% 0.55 0.69 Misc. 46% 20% 6%

Questions fromSolar System Survey



Pre [N=100]-14%46% chose ‘b’Post; lec [N=46]-48%, g=0.40

tut [N=38]-55%, g=0.48Chose ‘b’ lec.-26%; tut.-18%

Pre [N=100]-35%

Post; lec [N=46]-46%, g=0.17tut [N=38]-63%, g=0.43



Summative Assessment

Lecture, N=46 scores dropped to;9%, 30% and 59%

Misconceptions dropped to 15%

Tutorial, N=38-scores rose to;61%, 84% and 89 %

Misconceptions dropped to3%One respondent!

Extra Solar Planets









Tutorial



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Lecture- exoplanets.org

Percent Correct

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pre post final

Assessment

Percentage

lecture

tutorial

Mostly on“front”Even on“back”

Conclusions

Students did better with;Tutorials, Formative Assessments

Learner,Knowledge, Community & Assessment Centered; Active

HPL; HSL-Science -WORK!

What’s Next?

All HPL vs. None? Tutorials & Formative assessments

(with clickers) vs. Lectures Alone

Study on Misconceptions using HPL principles

Thank You!

Carl Pennypacker





Steve Murrell

Documents

Assessing Methods of Instruction of Solar System Concepts Michael C. LoPresto 2009 HOU Annual Conference Yerkes Observatory