Tips on Teaching Astronomy

It is sometimes said that astronomy is so exciting that it teaches itself. But that's not true. You will have to call on your full range of professional skills to teach it effectively. Much is known about effective teaching and learning of astronomy, but much of it is hidden away in education research journals, not widely accessible to teachers.

One thing to remember is that you are expected to be "the guide on the side, not the sage on the stage". Here are a few collected words of wisdom which may help.

1. According to constructivism, students form new concepts by building on old ones. But their minds are not empty slates; they have deeply-rooted misconceptions. Some are based on fundamental concepts such as light and gravity. Others come from popular culture, and a variety of other places.

2. Teachers hold most of the same misconceptions. Learn more about "co-investigation" through activities, such as the excellent ones at: http://www.learner.org/teacherslab/pup/ -- the Private Universe Project.

3. Students have special problems with three-dimensional concepts like eclipses and moon phases -- especially as textbooks show these phenomena from two different frames of reference: the observer's frame, and the external frame. And many conceptual problems are based on the enormous scales of distance and time. It's difficult to understand moon phases unless you realize that the moon is relatively far from the earth.

4. Piaget was right when he said that concepts must be introduced at the appropriate stage of intellectual development. It's difficult for the average grade 5 student to understand the cause of moon phases.

5. Terminology! Are you surprised that students confuse eclipse, ecliptic, and elliptic? And that they think that a light year is a unit of time?

6. Teachers at all levels overestimate what their students know and learn. Monitor students' understanding. And avoid curriculum overload. Teaching more astronomy should come second to teaching it better.

7. Inquiry-based teaching is the most effective. Hands-on is good; minds-on is better. Have students discuss patterns, devise possible explanations, make and test predictions.

8. Expertise in astronomy does not guarantee expertise in teaching it; again, we university professors are a good example. By the same token: you can teach astronomy effectively, even if you are not an expert. Take advantage of this web site to get a bit of background; then take advantage of your professional training.

9. All of education is subject to research, assessment, and improvement. That goes for this website. Please give us your feedback!

created by the CASCA education Webteam, (2009)