Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-02T21:19:34.256Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Pre-course Results from the Astronomy Diagnostic Test

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 March 2013

Beth Hufnagel ,
Timothy Slater ,
Grace Deming ,
Jeff Adams ,
Rebecca L. Adrian ,
Christine Brick  and
Michael Zeilik
Beth Hufnagel
Affiliation:
Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-2421, USA; hufnagel@astro.umd.edu Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA Present address: Anne Arundel Community College, 101 College Parkway, Annapolis, MD 21012-1895, USA
Timothy Slater
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717-3840, USA
Grace Deming
Affiliation:
Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-2421, USA; hufnagel@astro.umd.edu
Jeff Adams
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717-3840, USA
Rebecca L. Adrian
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68588-0111, USA
Christine Brick
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717-3840, USA
Michael Zeilik
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
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.

We present selected results from the January 1999 semester pre-course administration of the Astronomy Diagnostic Test (ADT), a research-based, multiple-choice instrument that assesses student knowledge and understanding about selected concepts in astronomy. The ADT is valid for undergraduate non-science majors taking an introductory astronomy course. This paper briefly summarises the development and validation processes, which included pre-course administration to 1557 students in 22 classes attending 17 various post-secondary institutions across the USA in the January 1999 semester. Two interesting results of the ADT's pre-course administration are (1) the average class score of the ADT is about the same (32%) regardless of type of post-secondary institution or class size and (2) there is a significant gender difference, with women scoring an average of 28% and men 38%, with the standard errors both less than 1%. The current version of the ADT (Version 2 dated 21 June 1999) and a comparative by-class database is available to astronomy instructors at the (USA) Association of Astronomy Educators' and the National Institute for Science Education's (NISE) WebPages.

Keywords

astronomy education
Type
Research Article
Information
Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia , Volume 17 , Issue 2 , 2000 , pp. 152 - 155
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of Australia 2000

References

Adams, J., & Slater, T. 2000, J. Geoscience Education, 48, 39 Google Scholar
Hammer, D. 1996, Am. J. Phys., 64, 1323 Google Scholar
Hufnagel, B., Slater, T., Adams, J., Deming, G., Lindell, A. R., Brick, C., & Zeilik, M. 2000, in preparationGoogle Scholar
Lightman, A., & Sadler, P. 1993, The Phys. Teacher, 31, 162 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McDermott, L. 1984, Phys. Today, 37(7), 4 Google Scholar
Mazur, E. 1997, Peer Instruction: A User's Manual (New York: Prentice–Hall)Google Scholar
Millar, R., & Osborne, J. 1998, Beyond 2000: Science education for the future. King's College London, School of Education, p. 25 Google Scholar
Miyasak, J. R., & Ryan, J. M. 1997, Improving student assessment strategies. Big Sky Institute Professional Development Workshop Series, September 1997Google Scholar
Mulvey, P. J., & Nicholson, S. 1999, American Institute of Physics Enrollments and Degrees Report, AIP Pub No. R-151.35, 9 (http://www.aip.org/statistics/trends/undtrends.htm)Google Scholar
Redish, E. G., & Steinberg, R. N. 1999, Phys. Today, 52(1), 24 Google Scholar
Sadler, P. M. 1992, Ph.D Dissertation, Harvard UniversityGoogle Scholar
Sadler, P. M. 1998, J. Res. Sci. Teach., 35, 265 Google Scholar
Zeilik, M. 1998, personal communicationGoogle Scholar
Zeilik, M., Schau, C., Mattern, N., Hall, S., Teague, K. W., & Bisard, W. 1997, Am. J. Phys., 65, 987 Google Scholar
Zeilik, M., Schau, C., & Mattern, N. 1998, The Phys. Teacher, 36, 106 Google Scholar
Zeilik, M., Schau, C., & Mattern, N. 1999, Am. J. Phys., 67, 685 CrossRefGoogle Scholar