Linking introductory astronomy students’ basic science knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, sources of information, and information literacy
[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Astronomy Education Research.] We report on a study of almost 13 000 undergraduate students enrolled in introductory astronomy courses at the University of Arizona. From 1989 to 2016, students completed a basic science knowledge, beliefs, and attitude...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
American Physical Society
2018-06-01
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| Series: | Physical Review Physics Education Research |
| Online Access: | http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.14.010142 |
| _version_ | 1819010108662743040 |
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| author | Sanlyn R. Buxner Chris D. Impey James Romine Megan Nieberding |
| author_facet | Sanlyn R. Buxner Chris D. Impey James Romine Megan Nieberding |
| author_sort | Sanlyn R. Buxner |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | [This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Astronomy Education Research.] We report on a study of almost 13 000 undergraduate students enrolled in introductory astronomy courses at the University of Arizona. From 1989 to 2016, students completed a basic science knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes survey. From 2014 to 2016, a subset of the sample completed an additional survey that probed their overall interest in science and astronomy, where they reported getting information about science, and their judgment of those sources. Our sample of mostly nonscience major students outperformed the general public on basic science knowledge questions during the time of the study. Additionally, there was very little change over the range of time of the study in students’ basic science knowledge whose scores averaged around 79% correct over the 27 years. Students’ self-reported demographic information and beliefs and attitudes in science and technology accounted for only 11% of the variance in their science knowledge scores and there was no systematic pattern between where students reported getting their information about science and their basic science knowledge. Despite this, there was a relationship between how students rated the reliability of sources and their science knowledge. Our findings support that introductory astronomy courses are opportunities to improve students’ attitudes towards science and ability to evaluate scientific information. Although this group of students’ basic science knowledge and attitudes remained relatively unchanged over 27 years there was a measurable relationship between students’ beliefs and attitudes, interest, science knowledge, and information literacy. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T01:07:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-99ad7f239d1a49578897f023d37a4c71 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2469-9896 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T01:07:01Z |
| publishDate | 2018-06-01 |
| publisher | American Physical Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Physical Review Physics Education Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-99ad7f239d1a49578897f023d37a4c712022-12-21T19:21:01ZengAmerican Physical SocietyPhysical Review Physics Education Research2469-98962018-06-0114101014210.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.14.010142Linking introductory astronomy students’ basic science knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, sources of information, and information literacySanlyn R. BuxnerChris D. ImpeyJames RomineMegan Nieberding[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Astronomy Education Research.] We report on a study of almost 13 000 undergraduate students enrolled in introductory astronomy courses at the University of Arizona. From 1989 to 2016, students completed a basic science knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes survey. From 2014 to 2016, a subset of the sample completed an additional survey that probed their overall interest in science and astronomy, where they reported getting information about science, and their judgment of those sources. Our sample of mostly nonscience major students outperformed the general public on basic science knowledge questions during the time of the study. Additionally, there was very little change over the range of time of the study in students’ basic science knowledge whose scores averaged around 79% correct over the 27 years. Students’ self-reported demographic information and beliefs and attitudes in science and technology accounted for only 11% of the variance in their science knowledge scores and there was no systematic pattern between where students reported getting their information about science and their basic science knowledge. Despite this, there was a relationship between how students rated the reliability of sources and their science knowledge. Our findings support that introductory astronomy courses are opportunities to improve students’ attitudes towards science and ability to evaluate scientific information. Although this group of students’ basic science knowledge and attitudes remained relatively unchanged over 27 years there was a measurable relationship between students’ beliefs and attitudes, interest, science knowledge, and information literacy.http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.14.010142 |
| spellingShingle | Sanlyn R. Buxner Chris D. Impey James Romine Megan Nieberding Linking introductory astronomy students’ basic science knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, sources of information, and information literacy Physical Review Physics Education Research |
| title | Linking introductory astronomy students’ basic science knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, sources of information, and information literacy |
| title_full | Linking introductory astronomy students’ basic science knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, sources of information, and information literacy |
| title_fullStr | Linking introductory astronomy students’ basic science knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, sources of information, and information literacy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Linking introductory astronomy students’ basic science knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, sources of information, and information literacy |
| title_short | Linking introductory astronomy students’ basic science knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, sources of information, and information literacy |
| title_sort | linking introductory astronomy students basic science knowledge beliefs attitudes sources of information and information literacy |
| url | http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.14.010142 |
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