Consecutive course modules developed with simple materials to facilitate the learning of basic concepts in astronomy

Abstract

From the perspective of teaching, the huge natural laboratory that astronomy provides constitutes the most prominent connection between astronomy and other branches of science. The purpose of this research was to provide educators with activities of observation using simple materials that were developed to facilitate the teaching of basic concepts of astronomy, presenting these in the form of course modules that they could use in the classroom. Six modules were developed for teaching basic astronomy. The modules "What is Astronomy?", "The Solar System and Observing the Sun", "Astronomy Topics in the Elementary School Curriculum and Experimental Activities" and "Space Research and Life in Outer Space" were implemented in the day classes while the modules "The History of Astronomy and Sky Observation" and "Sky Observation with a Telescope" were implemented during evening classes. The modules developed are unique in that their content treats the basic concepts of astronomy with an integrated and consecutive approach to make the activities easier for teachers to implement in the classroom. The effectiveness of the activities that were designed was investigated by testing the modules on Pre-service Science Teachers (N=88), after which observation notes were recorded. © 2015 by iSER, International Society of Educational Research.