On the effectiveness of an interleaved curriculum in increasing exposure of secondary school pupils to astronomy and astrophysics
conference contribution
posted on 2020-07-13, 15:16 authored by George Weaver, Emily SeeberDespite the publics continued fascination
with astronomy and space, the numbers of students who spend at
least 50% of their higher education time studying astronomy based
topics has fallen since 2010, and the overall number of first-year
students studying over 50% astronomy topics is under 1000.
Astronomy is a unique vehicle in engaging students in science,
covering the very small and the very large scale questions in equal
measure. The lack of astronomy within the current physics
curriculum, and the relatively low number of centres offering
GCSE Astronomy as an option means that many students will only
study one topic of astronomy through their entire secondary
education. Interleaving is a method of teaching whereby core
topics are taught several times through the thread of separate
contexts. This paper proposes the introduction of astronomy into
the physics GCSE curriculum as a vehicle to deliver varying topics
from radiation to waves. This would increase students’ exposure
to astronomy through their secondary education, and allow more
students to experience astronomy in much more depth.
History
Citation
Proceedings of the 3rd Symposium on Space Educational Activities, 2019, pp. 155-156Source
3rd Symposium on Space Educational Activities, September 16-18, 2019, Leicester, United KingdomVersion
- VoR (Version of Record)
