7-11 July 2014
Africa/Johannesburg timezone
<a href="http://events.saip.org.za/internalPage.py?pageId=16&confId=34"><font color=#0000ff>SAIP2014 Proceedings published on 17 April 2015</font></a>

Probing student perspectives in a first year astronomy course at the University of Cape Town

8 Jul 2014, 17:10
1h 50m
D Ring ground level

D Ring ground level

Board: E.415
Poster Presentation Track E - Physics Education Poster1

Speakers

Prof. Saalih Allie (UCT) Dr Sarah Blyth (University of Cape Town)

Apply to be<br> considered for a student <br> &nbsp; award (Yes / No)?

NO

Abstract content <br> &nbsp; (Max 300 words)<br><a href="http://events.saip.org.za/getFile.py/access?resId=0&materialId=0&confId=34" target="_blank">Formatting &<br>Special chars</a>

We report on research carried out to improve teaching and student engagement in the introductory astronomy
course at the University of Cape Town. We describe the development of an instrument, the Introductory
Astronomy Questionnaire (IAQ), which we administered as pre- and post-tests to students enrolled in the course.
The instrument comprised a small number of questions which probed three areas of interest: student motivation
and expectations, astronomy content, and worldview. Amongst our findings were that learning gains were
made in several conceptual areas, and that students appeared to develop a more nuanced view of the nature of
astronomy. There was some evidence that the course had a positive impact on students’ worldviews, particularly
their attitudes towards science.

Level for award<br>&nbsp;(Hons, MSc, <br> &nbsp; PhD)?

NA

Would you like to <br> submit a short paper <br> for the Conference <br> Proceedings (Yes / No)?

No

Primary author

Mr Vinesh Rajpaul (University of Cape Town)

Co-authors

Prof. Saalih Allie (UCT) Dr Sarah Blyth (University of Cape Town)

Presentation Materials

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