Development and Research on Engaging Smartphone Simulations in Introductory College Astronomy

该项目旨在通过提高学生对天文学概念的理解来服务于国家利益。每年有超过30万名学生学习大学天文学入门课程，其中许多人不是STEM专业的学生。对这些学生来说，理解科学在社会中所起的重要作用是很重要的。将开发一套12个新的智能手机模拟的主动学习体验，重点关注天文学入门课程中通常教授的主题，这些主题非常适合可视化。模拟将包含嵌入式问题，教师可以分配给学生。项目团队将观察和描述学生对模拟的使用情况，征求学生的反馈，并使用结果来完善模拟。将进行广泛的研究，以评估模拟对学生的内容知识和科学态度的影响。模拟和项目结果将通过内布拉斯加大学林肯分校的天文教育网站、期刊文章和专业会议的研讨会广泛传播。所有的模拟都将包括知识共享许可，并通过UNL天文教育网站公开提供。这个项目的目标是帮助学生使用为他们的智能手机设计的模拟来学习天文学概念。主题将包括季节和白昼时间、月相、吸收光谱、黑体光谱、太阳黑子旋转、恒星亮度、恒星演化、光谱双星、星系旋转曲线、凝结序列、潮汐加热和太阳核聚变。该项目将解决三个研究问题：1)智能手机模拟的使用如何影响本科生对天文学（和一般科学）的态度？2)智能手机模拟的使用如何影响大学生对天文学相关概念的理解？3)基于智能手机的模拟对大学生对天文学的态度和概念理解有何影响？该研究将使用顺序嵌入式混合方法设计，其中定量阶段将作为数据收集的主要来源，为定性阶段提供信息。在最初的定量阶段，将在学期初进行调查，评估学生从模拟使用中获得的内容知识以及他们对天文学和科学的总体态度。这些数据将建立基本的概念理解和学生对天文学的态度。对这些数据的分析将指导随后的定性数据收集，为访谈参与者的选择提供信息。访谈协议将重点关注学生对天文学的态度，以及在学习天文学时使用基于智能手机的模拟的价值和相关性。项目团队将开发一个编码方案来描述数据中包含的具体和一般想法，分析学生的编码反应，包括收集的课堂观察，并创建代表各种学生观点原型的假设案例。NSF IUSE: EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生STEM教育的有效性。通过参与学生学习轨道，该计划支持有前途的实践和工具的创建，探索和实施。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving students’ understanding of astronomy concepts. Each year over 300,000 students take introductory college astronomy, many of whom are not STEM majors. It is important for these students to understand the vital role that science plays in society. Active learning experiences using a set of twelve new smartphone simulations will be developed, focusing on topics commonly taught in introductory astronomy that are well suited for visualization. The simulations will contain embedded questions that instructors can assign to students. The project team will observe and characterize student usage of the simulations, solicit feedback from the students, and use the results to refine the simulations. Extensive research will be conducted to evaluate the impact of the simulations on students’ content knowledge and attitudes toward science. The simulations and project results will be widely disseminated through the astronomy education website at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, journal articles, and workshops at professional conferences. All simulations will include Creative Commons licenses and made publicly available via the UNL astronomy education website.The goal of this project is to help students learn astronomy concepts using simulations designed for their smartphones. The topics will include seasons and daylight hours, lunar phases, absorption spectra, blackbody spectra, sunspot rotation, star brightness, stellar evolution, spectroscopic binary stars, galactic rotation curves, the condensation sequence, tidal heating, and nuclear fusion in the sun. The project will address three research questions: 1) how does the use of smartphone simulations influence undergraduate students’ attitudes related to astronomy (and science in general)? 2) how does the use of smartphone simulations influence undergraduate students’ conceptual understanding related to astronomy? and 3) what affordances and constraints of smartphone-based simulations impact undergraduate students’ attitudes and conceptual understanding related to astronomy? The research will use a sequential embedded mixed methods design, where the quantitative phase will serve as the primary source of data collection, informing the qualitative phase. In the initial quantitative phase, surveys will be given early in the semester assessing student content knowledge garnered from simulation use and their attitudes toward astronomy and science in general. This data will establish baseline conceptual understanding and student attitudes towards astronomy. Analysis of these data will guide the subsequent qualitative data collection by informing the selection of participants for interviews. The interview protocol will focus on student attitudes towards astronomy and the value and relevance of using smartphone-based simulations while learning astronomy. The project team will develop a coding scheme to characterize the specific and general ideas contained within the data, analyze students’ coded responses, include collected classroom observations, and create hypothetical cases representing archetypes of various student viewpoints. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.