Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T16:49:52.549Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A dialogue between Vygotsky’s learning theory and peer instruction in Astronomy classes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 December 2021

Jamili De Paula ,
Denise Pereira de Alcântara Ferraz  and
Newton Figueiredo Open the ORCID record for Newton Figueiredo [Opens in a new window]
Jamili De Paula
Affiliation:
Programa de Pós-graduação em Educação em Ciências, Universidade Federal de Itajubá Caixa Postal 50, 37500-903, Itajubá, MG, Brazil email: jamilidepaula@gmail.com
Denise Pereira de Alcântara Ferraz
Affiliation:
Instituto de F sica e Qu mica, Universidade Federal de Itajubá Caixa Postal 50, 37500-903, Itajubá, MG, Brazil email: deferraz@unifei.edu.br
Newton Figueiredo
Affiliation:
Instituto de F sica e Qu mica, Universidade Federal de Itajubá Caixa Postal 50, 37500-903, Itajubá, MG, Brazil email: newton@unifei.edu.br
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Active learning methodologies have been used to teach science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics at higher education institutions in several countries. We report the results of using peer instruction in an Astronomy undergraduate course taught at a research university in Brazil. The course syllabus covered topics on astrometry and celestial mechanics at an introductory level and was offered in the second semester of 2018. In order to better investigate the effect of the interaction among students, we have asked them to talk to their peers after the first poll regardless of the outcome. We have then analyzed the outcomes of all peer instruction polls, before and after student interaction, as well as the course evaluation questionnaires answered by the students at the end of the semester. From these analyses we were able to establish an approximation between peer instruction and some key elements of Vygotsky’s social interactionist theory.

Keywords

Active learningAstronomy educationPeer instructionVygotsky’s social interactionist theory
Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 15 , Symposium S367: Education and Heritage in the Era of Big Data in Astronomy , December 2019 , pp. 57 - 60
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of International Astronomical Union

References

Crouch, C.H., & Mazur, E. 2001, Am. J. Phys., 69, 970 10.1119/1.1374249CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Paula, J., Figueiredo, N., & Ferraz, D.P.A. 2020, Cad. Bras. Ens. Fis., 37, 127 10.5007/2175-7941.2020v37n1p127CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lenaerts, J., Wieme, W., & Van Zele, E. 2002, Eur. J. Phys., 24, 7 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lucas, A. 2009, PRIMUS, 19, 219 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mazur, E. 1997, Peer Instruction: A User’s Manual (Upper Saddle River: Prentice-Hall)Google Scholar
Smith, M.K., Wood, W.B., Adams, W.K., Wieman, C., Knight, J.K., Guild, N., & Su, T.T. 2009, Science, 323, 122 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, M.K., Wood, W.B., Krauter, K., & Knight, J.K. 2011, CBE-Life Sci. Educ., 10, 55 10.1187/cbe.10-08-0101CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Turpen, C., & Finkelstein, N. 2009, Phys. Rev. Spec. Top. Phys. Educ. Res., 5, 20101 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vickrey, T., Rosploch, K., Rahmanian, R., Pilarz, M., & Stains, M. 2015, CBE-Life Sci. Educ., 14, 1 10.1187/cbe.14-11-0198CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vygotsky, L. 1980, Mind in Society (Cambridge: Harvard University Press)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vygotsky, L. 1986, Thought and Language (Cambridge: MIT Press)Google Scholar
Watkins, J., & Mazur, E. 2013, J. Coll. Sci. Teach., 42, 36 Google Scholar
Wood, W.B. 2009, Annu. Rev. Cell Dev. Bi., 25, 93 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zingaro, D., & Porter, L. 2014, Computers & Education, 71, 87 10.1016/j.compedu.2013.09.015CrossRefGoogle Scholar