ORCID Profile
0000-0001-6554-1826
Current Organisations
Las Cumbres Observatory
,
Deakin University
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In Research Link Australia (RLA), "Research Topics" refer to ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes. These topics are either sourced from ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes listed in researchers' related grants or generated by a large language model (LLM) based on their publications.
Teacher Education and Professional Development of Educators | Science, Technology and Engineering Curriculum and Pedagogy | Curriculum and Pedagogy | Secondary Education |
Teaching and Instruction Technologies | Pedagogy | Teacher and Instructor Development
Publisher: Our Solar Siblings
Date: 12-2019
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 18-05-2015
Publisher: American Physical Society (APS)
Date: 15-06-2018
Publisher: Our Solar Siblings
Date: 12-2019
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 22-07-2017
Publisher: Our Solar Siblings
Date: 18-10-2018
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 12-04-2015
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 12-04-2021
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 05-02-2022
DOI: 10.1007/S10763-022-10252-Y
Abstract: Cosmology concepts encompass complex spatial and temporal relations that are counterintuitive. Cosmology findings, because of their intrinsic interest, are often reported in the public domain with enthusiasm, and students come to cosmology with a range of conceptions some aligned and some at variance with the current science. This makes cosmology concepts challenging to teach, and also challenging to evaluate students’ conceptual understanding. This study builds on previous research of the authors investigating the methodological challenges for characterising students’ cosmology conceptions and the reasoning underlying these. Insights from student responses in two iterations of an open-ended instrument were used to develop a concept inventory that combined cosmological conceptions with reasoning levels based on the SOLO taxonomy. This paper reports on the development and validation of the Cosmology Concept Inventory (CosmoCI) for high school. CosmoCI is a 28-item multiple-choice instrument that was implemented with grade 10 and 11 school students ( n = 234) in Australia and Sweden. Using Rasch analysis in the form of a partial credit model (PCM), the paper describes a validated progression in student reasoning in cosmology across four conceptual dimensions, supporting the utility of CosmoCI as an assessment tool which can also instigate rich discussions in the science classroom.
Publisher: Our Solar Siblings
Date: 05-07-2020
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 2014
DOI: 10.1017/PASA.2014.30
Abstract: Since the early 1990s with the arrival of a variety of new technologies, the capacity for authentic astronomical research at the high school level has skyrocketed. This potential, however, has not realised the bright-eyed hopes and dreams of the early pioneers who expected to revolutionise science education through the use of telescopes and other astronomical instrumentation in the classroom. In this paper, a general history and analysis of these attempts is presented. We define what we classify as an Astronomy Research in the Classroom (ARiC) project and note the major dimensions on which these projects differ before describing the 22 major student research projects active since the early 1990s. This is followed by a discussion of the major issues identified that affected the success of these projects and provide suggestions for similar attempts in the future.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 29-06-2017
Publisher: American Physical Society (APS)
Date: 05-07-2018
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 07-11-2022
DOI: 10.1007/S11191-022-00389-1
Abstract: Modern astronomy as a field of inquiry may be shaped by what we consider the “scientific” ways of knowing. However, the history of astronomy as a human endeavour dates back millennia before the “modern” notions of “science”. This long history means that astronomy is, at its core, built on a rich cultural ersity and history. This offers a rich potential that, while having been examined in various studies, has yet to be explored from a contextual pedagogical perspective. This paper offers an initial exploratory theoretical perspective on how social semiotics can be used to inform a conceptual framework. This approach not only brings notions of culture into the teaching and learning of astronomy but uses culture as the starting point in a way that does justice to the cultural ersity of the discipline and the world. In doing so, this paper develops two frameworks: (i) the Conceptual Framework for Culture in Astronomy Education and (ii) the Pedagogical Framework for Culture in Astronomy Education, both of these offer a novel approach to astronomy education.
Publisher: Our Solar Siblings
Date: 18-10-2018
Publisher: Our Solar Siblings
Date: 18-10-2018
Publisher: Our Solar Siblings
Date: 18-10-2018
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 30-08-2015
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 13-04-2023
Abstract: The relationship between the period of a Cepheid variable star and its absolute magnitude—the Period-Luminosity, or Leavitt Law—can be used with a measurement of apparent magnitude to measure the star’s distance. RR Lyrae stars are evolved low-mass stars with shorter periods and lower luminosities than Cepheids, but they are particularly useful for estimating distances to the oldest stellar clusters. We observed the brightness of an RR Lyrae star over time using the robotic telescopes of Las Cumbres Observatory to determine its period and apparent magnitude in four bands. We used that information and theoretical period–luminosity relationships for RR Lyrae stars to determine the distance to AN Ser to be 876 ± 25 pc. Our measured distance is smaller than that modeled by GAIA DR3 via stellar parallax, BP/RP spectra, and G -band photometry (959 pc).
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 26-01-2023
DOI: 10.1007/S41979-023-00088-8
Abstract: Cosmology presents students with ideas that stimulate their curiosity and brings together various concepts from STEM that call on a variety of reasoning types across multiple representational modes, involving subtleties of spacetime relations, a variety of models and evidence requiring multiple lines of high precision observations. This study investigated high school students’ levels and types of reasoning that frame their conceptions in different cosmology topics. An open-ended knowledge survey, the Cosmology Knowledge Survey (CosmoKS), was developed and implemented online to 286 high school students (aged 16–18 years) from Australia and Sweden. A modified version of the Structure of the Observed Learning Outcome (SOLO) taxonomy with four levels (pre-structural, uni-structural, multi-structural and relational) was used as a guide to analyse students’ open-ended and structured responses. This provided insights into the level and complexity of reasoning underpinning a variety of conceptions across the four dimensions of cosmology education: size and scale, spacetime location, composition of the universe and evolution of the universe. The study identified underlying patterns in student reasoning and conceptions in cosmology, summarised as (i) navigating spatial and temporal relations, (ii) counterintuitive concepts and (iii) language and everyday experience, especially intuition. The analysis led to the characterisation of a hierarchy of reasoning that helps identify sources of alternative conceptions and provided the basis for the development of a concept inventory and progression with broad implications.
Publisher: The Open Journal
Date: 26-02-2021
DOI: 10.21105/JOSS.02641
Publisher: The University of Sydney Library
Date: 21-04-2021
DOI: 10.30722/IJISME.29.01.004
Abstract: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) is dominating industry as we become more technology-dependent and the workplace evolves. Consequently, engaging industry professionals in STEM education continues to be a priority in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, as industry look to invest in students who will become future innovators. While industry partnerships with schools can help to drive authentic education in STEM, there needs to be a mutually respectful approach that capitalises on the expertise of each partner that is, the deep discipline knowledge of industry and the pedagogical knowledge of educators. This research partnered industry scientists with early career science teachers to explore the implications of industry-school partnerships. Data were collected through interviews and focus groups with 15 participants. The qualitative data were inductively coded and triangulation occurred between different focus groups for dependability. The advice from industry scientists to educators focused on making science practical and authentic, while educators sought to engage industry partnerships to support the development of content knowledge and to overcome resourcing issues. In addition, the conversations between scientists and science educators illuminated a number of barriers to partnering, including what type of STEM careers to introduce to students and the appropriate age groups to target to ensure successful partnerships.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 10-03-2020
Publisher: Our Solar Siblings
Date: 18-10-2018
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 19-01-2019
Publisher: American Physical Society (APS)
Date: 28-02-2022
Publisher: American Physical Society (APS)
Date: 24-05-2021
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 14-09-2012
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 31-01-2019
DOI: 10.1007/S11165-019-9823-2
Abstract: In order to supply a future Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) workforce, Australia needs to engage its most capable and gifted secondary students in quality STEM learning, either within school or through extra-curricular opportunities, so that they will continue into STEM-based tertiary degrees. High-achieving students in rural communities may face additional barriers to STEM learning that can limit their ability to pursue advanced STEM studies and occupations. This small-scale research project sought to explore a group of gifted lower secondary students’ engagement and experiences in a STEM programme designed around a local rural knowledge model as reported by Avery (2013), which uses local knowledge as a vehicle for science learning. This multi-method study was conducted with 26 students years 7 and 8 in a rural school. Information about students’ general science class experiences were collected quantitatively. These experiences contrasted the local rural knowledge programme, where the students worked with an ecologist and experienced science educators to rehabilitate small plots of damaged land close to the school site. Qualitative data were collected throughout the programme to determine its influence on students’ engagement and learning in STEM. The research found that the local rural knowledge model enhanced students’ engagement in STEM learning and they felt that they retained knowledge better as a result of the authentic learning experience. Students also engaged the wider community in the process, leading to broader translation of the STEM learning.
Start Date: 2018
End Date: 12-2020
Amount: $384,996.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded Activity