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http://dx.doi.org/10.15523/JKSESE.2018.11.2.125

Analysing Astronomical Thinking of Elementary, Middle, and High School Students Using Ordered Multiple Choice Items  

Choi, Joontae (Kangwon National University)
Lee, Kiyoung (Kangwon National University)
Park, Jaeyong (Seoul National University of Education)
Publication Information
Journal of the Korean Society of Earth Science Education / v.11, no.2, 2018 , pp. 125-144 More about this Journal
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to analyze the astronomical thinking level of elementary, middle, and high school students using ordered multiple choice items. For this purpose, we constructed a questionnaire comprising three items about spatial thinking and system thinking. This survey was conducted and applied to 1,066 students in the 5th grade, 8th grade, and 11th grade in 12 schools located in Gangwon Province. The collected student response data were analyzed by applying inferential statistics of classical test theory and Rasch model. The results of the analysis were as follows; First, in the level of spatial thinking, students were able to grasp the spatial location and orientation of the celestial body, but were not able to convert the celestial motion of two-dimensional plane into three-dimensional plane, and it was revealed that there is no statistically significant difference in the spatial thinking of students among grade levels. Second, in the level of system thinking, students were able to identify the components and relationship between components of the celestial motion system, but could not identify the patterns of the system, and it was revealed that there was statistically significant difference among the system thinking of students in different grade levels, unlike in spatial thinking. Third, the astronomical thinking expressed in certain context (content) was very similar regardless of grade level, Through this, we could confirm the context-dependency or content-dependency of the astronomical thinking of students. It is expected that the results of this study can be used as basic data for exploring ways to enhance astronomical thinking level in school science classes.
Keywords
astronomical thinking; system thinking; spatial thinking; ordered multiple choice item;
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