Research on Teaching Astronomy in the Planetarium

From a noted specialist in astronomy education and outreach, this Brief provides an overview of the most influential discipline-based science education research literature now guiding contemporary astronomy teaching. In recent years, systematic studies of effective and efficient teaching strategies have provided a solid foundation for enhancing college-level students’ learning in astronomy. Teaching astronomy and planetary science at the college-level was once best characterized as professor-centered, information-download lectures. Today, astronomy faculty are striving to drastically improve the learning environment by using innovative teaching approaches. Uniquely, the authors have organized this book around strands of commonly employed astronomy teaching strategies to help readers, professors, and scholars quickly access the most relevant work while, simultaneously, avoiding the highly specialized, technical vocabulary of constructivist educational pedagogies unfamiliar to most astronomy professors. For readers who are currently teaching astronomy at the college level—or those who plan on teaching at the college level in the future—this Brief provides an indispensable guide.

Dr. Tim Slater is an author of several college-level astronomy textbooks who is well known for his extensive work in popularization of astronomy. Professor Slater is a Professor at the University of Wyoming where he holds the Wyoming Excellence in Higher Education Endowed Chair for Science Education. As a member of the UW Physics and Astronomy Department, he is recognized as an expert in education and public outreach in astronomy and space sciences. Professor Slater earned his Ph.D. at the University of South Carolina in geological sciences and his M.S. from Clemson University in physics and astronomy. He holds two bachelors’ degrees from Kansas State University, one in science education and one in physical science. Professor Slater has served as the elected education officer for the American Astronomical Society, an elected member of the Board of Directors for the Astronomical Society of the Pacific and the Board of the National Science Teachers Association, an elected councillor at large for the Society of College Science Teachers, a member of the founding editorial board of the Astronomy Education Review, and multiple terms as chairman of the Astronomy Education Committee of the American Association of Physics Teachers.

Dr. Stephanie Slater is a cognitive scientist specializing in how people of all ages and backgrounds engage in astronomy and space science. She is the Director of the CAPER Center for Astronomy & Physics Education Research and her research focuses on conceptual understanding as influenced by individual spatial reasoning abilities and cognitive load and how these aspects interact with individual’s attitudes toward science and society. After attending MIT as an undergraduate, Dr. Slater earned a M.S. in Science Education from Montana State University and her Ph.D. from the University of Arizona in Teaching, Learning and Sociocultural Studies. Her background uniquely qualifies her to study the intersection of society, science, and learning.