|
The role of Astronomy
education in daily life
Ashrafoalsadat Shekarbaghani
Correspondence:
Assistant
Professor in Physics
Department of Science & Mathematics Education
of Education Studies Research Center, Organization
for Educational Research and planning(OERP),Tehran,
Iran
Email:
a20.baghani@gmail.com
|
Abstract
This
research has been done in the interests
of preparing a thorough guidance curriculum
for astronomy education in secondary educational
level. So the present research has a developmental
goal and methodologically it has been
done by diacritical analytical method.
It has been devised according to the culture
and civilization of Islam and proportionate
to the daily needs of modern world science
in order to be able to explore future
scientific, economical and social needs.
We are faced with these four elements
on the cultural, religious and educational
level in this study too. So the present
study tries to interpret the commercial
situation of astronomy, religious culture
and curriculum. For data gathering we
used library and documental techniques
in this research. The used documents include
finished project reports, articles, books,
theses, national curriculum and finally
basic evolution of the educational system
in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Meanwhile
the most important concluding findings
are the creation of preparations for the
needed science for the compilation of
astronomy affecting daily life with the
other curriculum.
Key words:
Astronomy education, daily life, curriculum
Guidance, secondary.
|
Throughout History humans have looked to the
sky to navigate the vast oceans, to decide when
to plant their crops and to answer questions
of where we came from and how we got here. It
is a discipline that opens our eyes, gives context
to our place in the Universe and that can reshape
how we see the world. When Copernicus claimed
that Earth was not the centre of the Universe,
it triggered a revolution. A revolution through
which religion, science, and society had to
adapt to this new world view.
Astronomy has always had a significant impact
on our world view. Early cultures identified
celestial objects with the gods and took their
movements across the sky as prophecies of what
was to come. We would now call this astrology,
far removed from the hard facts and expensive
instruments of today’s astronomy, but there
are still hints of this history in modern astronomy.
Take, for example, the names of the constellations:
Andromeda, the chained maiden of Greek mythology,
or Perseus, the demi-god who saved her.
Now, as our understanding of the world progresses,
we find ourselves and our view of the world
even more entwined with the stars. The discovery
that the basic elements that we find in stars,
and the gas and dust around them, are the same
elements that make up our bodies has further
deepened the connection between us and the cosmos.
This connection touches our lives, and the awe
it inspires is perhaps the reason that the beautiful
images astronomy provides us with are so popular
in today’s culture.
There are still many unanswered questions in
astronomy. Current research is struggling to
understand questions like: “How old are
we?”, “What is the fate of the Universe?”
and possibly the most interesting: “How
unique is the Universe, and could a slightly
different Universe ever have supported life?”
But astronomy is also breaking new records every
day, establishing the furthest distances, most
massive objects, highest temperatures and most
violent explosions. Pursuing these questions
is a fundamental part of being human, yet in
today’s world it has become increasingly
important to be able to justify the pursuit
of the answers.
Although we live in a world faced with the many
immediate problems of hunger, poverty, energy
and global warming, we argue that astronomy
has long term benefits that are equally as important
to a civilized society. Several studies have
told us that investing in science education,
research and technology provides a great return,
not only economically, but culturally and indirectly
for the population in general, and has helped
countries to face and overcome crises. The scientific
and technological development of a country or
region is closely linked to its human development
index, a statistic that is a measure of life
expectancy, education and income (Truman, 1949).
There are other works that have contributed
to answering the question “Why is astronomy
important?” More recently, C. Renée
James wrote an article outlining the recent
technological advances that we can thank astronomy
for, such as GPS, medical imaging, and wireless
internet (Renée James, 2012). In defence
of radio astronomy, Dave Finley in Finley (2013)
states, “In sum, astronomy has been a cornerstone
of technological progress throughout history,
has much to contribute in the future, and offers
all humans a fundamental sense of our place
in an unimaginably vast and exciting universe.”
Astronomy and related fields are at the forefront
of science and technology; answering fundamental
questions and driving innovation. It is for
this reason that the International Astronomical
Union’s (IAU) strategic plan for 2010–2020
has three main areas of focus: technology and
skills; science and research; and culture and
society (International Astronomical Union, 2012).
Although “blue-skies research” like
astronomy rarely contributes directly with tangible
outcomes on a short time scale, the pursuit
of this research requires cutting-edge technology
and methods that can on a longer time scale,
through their broader application make a difference.
A wealth of examples show how the study of
astronomy contributes to technology, economy
and society by constantly pushing for instruments,
processes and software that are beyond our current
capabilities. The fruits of scientific and technological
development in astronomy, especially in areas
such as optics and electronics, have become
essential to our day-to-day life, with applications
such as personal computers, communication satellites,
mobile phones, Global Positioning Systems, solar
panels and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
scanners.
Several reports in the US (National Research
Council, 2010) and Europe (Bode et al., 2008)
indicate that the major contributions of astronomy
are not just the technological and medical applications,
but a unique perspective that extends our horizons
and helps us discover the grandeur of the Universe
and our place within it. On a more pressing
level, astronomy helps us study how to prolong
the survival of our species. For example, it
is critical to study the Sun’s influence
on Earth’s climate and how it will affect
weather, water levels etc. Only the study of
the Sun and other stars can help us to understand
these processes in their entirety. In addition,
mapping the movement of all the objects in our
Solar System, allows us to predict the potential
threats to our planet from space.
Astronomy has always had a significant impact
on our world view. Early cultures identified
celestial objects with the gods and took their
movements across the sky as prophecies of what
was to come. We would now call this astrology,
far removed from the hard facts and expensive
instruments of today’s astronomy, but there
are still hints of this history in modern astronomy.
Take, for example, the names of the constellations:
Andromeda, the chained maiden of Greek mythology,
or Perseus, the demi¬god who saved her.
Now, as our understanding of the world progresses,
we find ourselves and our view of the world
even more entwined with the stars. The discovery
that the basic elements that we find in stars,
and the gas and dust around them, are the same
elements that make up our bodies has further
deepened the connection between us and the cosmos.
This connection touches our lives, and the awe
it inspires is perhaps the reason that the beautiful
images astronomy provides us with are so popular
in today’s culture. There are still many
unanswered questions in astronomy. There are
other works that have contributed to answering
the question “Why is astronomy important?”
Dr. Robert Aitken, director of Lick Observatory,
shows us that even in 1933 there was a need
to justify our science, in his paper entitled
The Use of Astronomy (Aitken, 1933). His last
sentence summarizes his sentiment: “To
give man ever more knowledge of the universe
and to help him ‘to learn humility and
to know exaltation’, that is the mission
of astronomy.” More recently, C. Renée
James wrote an article outlining the recent
technological advances that we can thank astronomy
for, such as GPS, medical imaging, and wireless
internet (Renée James, 2012). In defence
of radio astronomy, Dave Finley in Finley (2013)
states, “In sum, astronomy has been a cornerstone
of technological progress throughout history,
has much to contribute in the future, and offers
all humans a fundamental sense of our place
in an unimaginably vast and exciting universe.”
Shekarbaghani et al (2009) on the feasibility
of astronomy education based on Islamic culture
and civilization in general and secondary education,
favorable conditions for the study of astronomy
education, the situation in the various sectors
of education, ground for the implementation
of the astronomy education in all countries,
the global challenges and astronomy education
program were examined. According to the findings
of this study, the best method for the teaching
of astronomy in schools is to utilize various
departments of the Ministry of Education, including
the Institute for the Intellectual Development
of Children and Young Adults and research centre
which should be equipped with the various tools
which are necessary for Astronomy education
for students. Using the capabilities of the
private sector, including astronomy Amateur,
Astronomy Association and the Association for
the training courses will help in the shortest
possible time to provide astronomical education
for the students of the country. In survey research
facilities, student research center we found
that, there are many films on astronomy education,
replicas, posters, maps and an astronomical
atlas of the night sky, are available from which
many of them are taken and distributed by amateur
astronomy associations.
Zühtü Okulu et al (2009), show that
applied education of Astronomy in civilized
life is one of the important goals. It means
that this process can be used for identifying
Astronomy and the goals of Astronomy education.
It means that there is an answer for the other
question in this research.
Krumenaker (2009), looked at fully independent,
self-contained astronomy courses available to
students in grades 9-12, with the mixed-methods
study. Therefore, courses, such as physics or
earth science, that contain some astronomy units
were not considered in this study. The data
came from high school astronomy teachers via
a survey available to them on a Webpage and
as a Word file. The study mirrored but greatly
enlarged the scope of the Sadler study. Quantitative
and categorical questions included diverse topics
such as instructors’ back- grounds, planetarium
and telescope availability, financial support,
course content, student demographics, school
AYP status, and other items. Also included were
open-ended survey questions, such as requests
for recommendations about ways to go about starting
a course, and these responses were coded and
treated with qualitative or quasi-quantitative
analyses.
•Alvandi(2010) studied the evolution of
astronomy education in Iran from Dar ul-Funun
up to now. Findings from this study indicate
that: the population of the study consisted
of 1,090 volumes of books on the topics of physics,
geography, geology and geometry. Of these, 363
were selected for the sample as a sample of
the 7 was not available in the archives of 356
cases that were analyzed. In addition, the entire
collection of books at Dar-Al fonon school,
also were added, including 15 titles: “7
titles in Physics, 4 as geometry, 2 as geography
and 2 as knowledge of the earth (geology)”,
with the description of the sample population
of this study being 386 titles. The present
collection of textbooks may all be relevant.
These studies revealed that the titles of textbooks
in the discussion on astronomy education firstly
depended on the largest share of physics and
secondly geography in Iran.
• Shekarbaghani(2010) did a Comparative
study of Astronomy education between Iran and
the target countries to study astronomy education
programs in order to provide various and appropriate
benchmarks in the field to provide full coverage.
This is included in the findings of the final
report of the project:
• The United States of America is one of
the target countries in this comparative study.
In the United States, in the context of science
education standards, programs are intended for
astronomy education in school. It is clearly
defined as to what kind of educational content
should be understood by students in these standards
and what kind of process skills in the different
age levels determined need to be learned. These
standards allow the educational system to use
the content of astrophysics and astronomy to
improve the conception and learning of the students.
One of the other countries in this comparative
study for astronomy education is the United
Kingdom. The Curriculum of the school pays attention
to the students’ expertise so at the first
per subject there are some activities for training
of experts, knowledge and conception for the
use of science and then these experts and this
awareness is articulated in separate content.
There are also universities in Australia who
specialise in these fields and one provides
graduate students (PhD) for places at NASA.
Turkey is one of the other chosen countries
for this comparative study about Astronomy education.
By educational re-organization in Turkey in
2005-2006, the Intermediate level of education
increased from three years to four. In this
framework intermediate level is related to 14-17
years old students. The goals of intermediate
level in Turkey are “to present the public
culture to the students, to make the students
familiar with the individual and societal problems.
Problem solving education, increases their awareness
for promoting participation in the socio-cultural
development in the country, prepare students
for higher and expert education and their life
and business according to their interests and
experts.”
China is the other member of this comparative
study. The knowledge of astronomy has a rapid
development in this country since 1977. thus
in this country mass media like radio and television
uses like heavens showers since the knowledge
of astronomy to be known and famous. Astronomy
present as physics and Geography in Chinese
high schools. In the last year of high school
a subject like the knowledge of the earth and
the sky combined in Geography.
Our comparative study has anther members in
the name of Malaysia. There is no separate lesson
as Astronomy in this country’s curriculum
most of this educational content is presented
in Physics. Of course Geography does feature
it in its Curriculum too. Of course in Malaysian
schools Curriculum Quality is more important
than quantity.
Indian educational system does not have a special
curriculum for Astronomy education. Astronomical
subjects present in physics at grade 11 and
12 at high school too in order to create a suitable
conception about the nature and material. Specifically
some lessons in Astronomical education have
been presented in Physics books of grade 11
at high school.
Since in the school of our country there is
no effort to present Astronomy education. Astronomy
curriculum education is limitedly present at
secondary school. Most of the teachers are employed
in one of the main branch of natural sciences
so they are not able to teach the subjects of
Astronomy curriculum (Shekarbaghani, 2014, Casey
& Slater, 2003).
Ahmadi (2011) did a survey of science, physics,
geography, geology and mathematic according
to the general and intermediate level and provided
a suitable framework. Astronomy education for
general and intermediate level according to
Iranian culture has been surveyed in this research.
Then a suitable framework according to the educational
level has been created. We can use it for examining
the structure and organizing the content of
Astronomy education. It provides, as such an
answer to one of the questions of the present
research.
In the past few years, the Philippines have
been gradually developing their research and
educational capabilities in astronomy and astrophysics.
In terms of astronomy development, it is still
lagging behind several neighboring Southeast
Asian countries such as Indonesia, Thailand
and Malaysia, while it is advanced with respect
to several others. One of the main issues hampering
progress is the scarcity of trained professional
Filipino astronomers, as well as long-term visions
for astronomy development. Here, we will be
presenting an overview of astronomy education
and research in the country. We will discuss
the history and current status of astronomy
in the Philippines, including all levels of
education, outreach and awareness activities,
as well as potential areas for research and
collaborations. We also discuss issues that
need to be addressed to ensure sustainable astronomy
development in the Philippines. Finally, we
discuss several ongoing and future programs
aimed at promoting astronomy research and education.
In essence, the work is a precursor of a possible
white paper which we envision to submit to the
Department of Science and Technology (DOST)
in the near future, with which we aim to further
convince the authorities of the importance of
astrophysics. With the support of the International
Astronomical Union (IAU), this may eventually
lead to the creation of a separate astronomy
agency in the Philippines (Sese, et al, 2015).
The past several years have presented the astronomy
education research community with a host of
foundational research dissertations in the teaching
and learning of astronomy. These PhD candidates
have been studying the impact of instructional
innovations on student learning and systematically
validating astronomy learning assessment instruments
(Slater, 2008).
For over 40 years, the international astronomy
education community has given its attention
to cataloging the substantial body of “misconceptions”
in individual’s thinking about astronomy,
and to addressing the consequences of those
misconceptions in the science classroom. Despite
the tremendous amount of effort given to researching
and disseminating information related to misconceptions,
and the development of a theory of conceptual
change to mitigate misconceptions, progress
continues to be less than satisfying. An analysis
of the literature and our own research has motivated
the CAPER Center for Astronomy & Physics
Education Research to advance a new model that
is allowing us to operate on students’
astronomical learning difficulties in a more
fruitful manner. Previously, much of the field’s
work discarded erroneous student thinking into
a single construct, and from that basis, curriculum
developers and instructors addressed student
misconceptions with a single instructional strategy.
In contrast this model suggests that “misconceptions”
are a mixture of at least four learning barriers:
incorrect factual information, inappropriately
applied mental algorithms (e.g., phenomenological
primitives), insufficient cognitive structures
(e.g., spatial reasoning), and affective/emotional
difficulties. Each of these types of barriers
should be addressed with an appropriately designed
instructional strategy. Initial applications
of this model to learning problems in astronomy
and the space sciences have been fruitful, suggesting
that an effort towards categorizing persistent
learning difficulties in astronomy beyond the
level of “misconceptions” may allow
our community to craft tailored and more effective
learning experiences for our students and the
general public (Slater et al,2015 ).
According to the mentioned goals the mentioned
plan would answer the following questions:
1) What are the goals of astronomy education
affecting everyday life?
2) What is the total guidance of the
Astronomy education affecting everyday life?
Documentary
method
has
been
used
for
data
gathering
in
the
present
research.
Particularly,
superior
finished
reports
of
projects,
papers,
books,
thesis,
international
documents
and
plans
have
been
used
in
this
research.
Some
of
the
used
resources
are
as
follows:
•
English
and
Persian
books
about
the
curriculation
and
education
of
Astronomy.
Data
sites
about
education
and
curriculum
of
Astronomy.
•
Informational
sites
about
the
curriculum
and
education
of
Astronomy
is
needed.
•
Educational
books
of
schools
about
Astronomy
measuring
•
Superior
documents
include
the
fundamental
evolution
documentary
of
education
in
the
Islamic
Republic
of
Iran
(IRI)
and
national
educational
curriculum
of
IRI.
•
National
reports
of
universal
reports
in
curriculum
and
education
of
Astronomy
•
The
results
of
four
finished
research
studies
with
the
below
contents(which
in
fact
the
present
research
is
related
to
them):
1.
Feasibility
measuring
of
Astronomy
education
founded
on
the
Islamic
culture
and
civilization
in
general
and
intermediate
educational
level.
2.
The
comparative
study
of
Astronomy
education
for
Islamic
republic
and
the
goals
countries
require.
3.
The
survey
and
reinvestigation
of
the
educational
books
like
science,
geography,
geology
and
mathematics
in
the
light
of
the
education
of
Astronomy
and
to
present
the
appropriate
framework.Survey
the
evolutional
process
of
Astronomy
education
from
Dar
ul-Funun
that
has
been
studied
up
to
now.
We
have
the
expert’s
opinion
about
the
elements
of
Astronomy
education
and
still
require
guidance
for
astronomy
education.
In
fact
the
questions
of
| THE
GUIDANCE
OF
THE
CURRICULUM
AND
EDUCATION
OF
ASTRONOMY
FRAMEWORK
|
The
framework
of
the
Astronomy
curriculum
for
intermediate
level
includes
the
books
which
are
obtained
from
the
literature
of
the
research.
This
framework
shows
the
theoretical
elements
of
curriculum.
Its
framework
shows
the
general
directions
of
curriculum
for
astronomy
and
it
is
a
source
for
guidance,
preparation
and
preparing
the
curriculum
of
Astronomy
for
intermediate
levels.
Teaching
plan
and
educational
designation
for
education
of
Astronomy
has
been
prepared
according
to
Islamic
culture
and
civilization.
We
will
present
a
sample
of
designated
lessons
of
astronomy.
Also
we
prepared
this
issue
based
on
the
Islamic
culture
and
civilization
and
it
is
related
to
the
concepts
of
the
geography
book
of
the
first
grade
of
the
intermediate
course.
The
name
of
the
lesson:
Astronomy
Lesson:
Geography
Educational
concepts:
“Qiblah”
(direction
to
which
Mohammedans
turn
in
praying)
and
“Qiblah”
finding
The
goals
of
the
lesson:
Pay
attention
to
the
sky
and
investigating
in
it
at
night
How
to
looks
at
the
sky
and
register
your
observations?
Pay
attention
to
shining
direction
of
the
sun
for
“Qiblah”
finding.
Teaching
time:
100
minutes
during
a
sunny
day
(teaching
expert
20’:
learning
activities
50’,
assignment,
asking
and
answering
questions
10’
minutes,
evaluating
10’).
Addressees:
The
students
of
grade
one
in
intermediate
level,
girls/boys.
Activity
format:
Individual
and
collective
(students
divide
to
different
groups
with
five
members
and
start
their
activity.
A
group
will
inform
the
students
who
are
interested
in
individual
activities).Initiation
of
teaching
skills
(laying
the
groundwork
and
establish
the
learning
situation):
This
skill
begins
with
questioning
and
answering.
Teacher
asks
his/her
students
about
the
class
about
the
“Qiblah”
situations
in
different
locations,
and
then
provides
a
conclusion
for
these
answers.
After
that
the
student
should
be
driven
to
he
school
courtyard
and
by
doing
collective
and
individual
activities
learn
how
to
place
the
“Qiblah”
direction.
The
validation
of
the
curriculation
of
Astronomy
Guidance
Researcher
built
questionnaire
(consists
of
thirteen
closed
questions)
has
been
used
for
validation
of
the
gained
elements.
Realities
of
this
questionnaire
confirmed
by
content
validation
which
is
done
by
the
subjective
experts
consulting
group.
At
first
a
brief
quality
of
surveyed
elements
which
are
needed
to
be
assembled
as
the
suggested
curriculum
of
astronomy
would
be
sent
to
the
selected
teachers
(before
they
answer
the
questions,
for
their
familiarity
with
the
elements
of
the
suggested
curriculum).
In
fact
we
tried
to
account
for
the
validation
of
these
elements
via
this.
Then
we
asked
them
to
study
the
curriculum
carefully
and
after
that
to
answer
the
questions.
For
doing
this
we
gave
out
50
questionnaires
to
50
teachers.
We
gathered
all
50
questionnaires.
Thus
the
final
version
prepared
by
the
teachers’
answers
to
the
questions
(by
using
the
analytical
method
for
the
presented
answers
according
to
the
guidance
of
curriculum).
For
surveying
the
reliability
of
the
questions
we
use
Cronbach
coefficient
equal
to
0.708.
Briefly
the
general
curriculum
of
astronomy
had
been
prepared
by
this
way:
1.
To
understand
the
theoretical
fundamental
and
conceptual
framework
of
the
astronomy
curriculum
attitudes
and
the
universal
experiences
for
the
education
of
Astronomy.
2.
Gathering
the
needed
data
in
the
area
of
the
guidance
of
the
curriculum
of
Astronomy
and
to
study
the
previous
plans
which
have
been
done
in
IRI.
3.
Adding
up
the
field
data
and
to
survey
prerequisites
for
preparing
the
general
curriculum
for
education
of
astronomy
and
to
survey
the
upper
documents
like
the
document
of
national
curriculum
of
natural
sciences
which
includes
Astronomy;
and
to
answer
the
questions
of
the
research
for
assigning
philosophy,
goals
and
attitudes
of
Astronomy
education.
4.
Assigning
the
offering
arguments
for
entrance
of
the
Astronomical
subjects
in
educational
books.
5.
Survey
of
primary
plan
for
the
guidance
of
the
curriculum
of
Astronomy
and
gaining
the
deliberative
views
of
the
subjective
experts
6.
To
present
suggested
guidance
of
the
curriculum
of
Astronomy
for
secondary
schools.
Finding
the
validity
of
suggested
guidance
for
the
curriculum
of
Astronomy
and
at
last
the
founding
of
the
research
and
the
final
results
presented.
This
study
has
been
done
to
help
the
experts
and
staff
of
curriculum
and
the
others
to
practically
think
about
Astronomy
education
affecting
everyday
life.
So
they
need
to
make
some
changes
in
books
and
create
an
appropriate
curriculum
and
train
expert
teachers,
prepare
a
suite
of
instruments
and
library
for
this
subject
and
finally
conduct
these
lessons
at
schools.
So
the
suggested
elements
of
guidance
for
Astronomy
in
general
education
using
the
results
of
this
research
are
briefly
present
below:
•
Desired
attitude
of
general
guidance
curriculum
for
astronomy
education:
A
composing
from
monotheism
naturism
along
with
cognitive
development
attitude,
the
attitude
of
Curriculum
as
technology
and
development
of
self-dehiscence
are
suggested.
•
General
and
minor
goal
followed
by
training
school
with
respect
to
desired
attitude:
Consists
of
creation
of
scientific
spirit
and
interest
to
research
for
students,
study
and
survey
of
Astronomical
phenomena
in
human
daily
life,
study
and
understanding
of
social
facts
in
different
areas
and
scientific
understanding
of
Astronomical
phenomena,
thoughts,
habits,
opinions,
tendencies,
rituals,
values
and
traditions
with
respect
to
element,
criteria,
combatting
superstitions,
imagination.
•
The
general
goals
of
Astronomy
education
in
our
country
are
to
know
the
surrounding
phenomena
like
moon
circling
around
the
earth,
earth
circling
around
the
sun,
appurtenance.
•
The
particular
goals
of
Astronomy
education
to
the
students
of
Islamic
Republic
of
Iran
(IRI)
concludes
some
religious
lawful
facts
like
rising
of
the
sun,
sunset
and
lunar
month
for
social
and
cultural
evidence.
•
The
content
structure
of
Astronomy
curriculum
in
appropriate
attitude:
This
structure
according
on
a
deductive
and
inductive
basis
and
comparative
attitude
in
curriculum
books
most
common
like
geography,
history,
social
science,
mathematics,
geometry,
physics,
geology,
and
continued
presentation
of
Astronomy
at
educational
duration,
the
students’
ages,
and
with
an
interdisciplinary
method
is
suggested.
•
Educational
method
for
Astronomy
education
at
first
and
second
intermediate
durations:
This
curriculum
should
have
the
teachers
create
educational
presentations
and
doing
evaluation
of
curriculum
in
the
class
and
planning
for
scientific
and
practical
development
for
the
students.
The
teaching
of
Astronomy
has
not
only
been
based
on
information
presentation,
since
this
lesson
can
help
the
students
in
learning
and
researching.
The
teacher
has
to
create
a
suitable
environment
for
students’
abilities
and
talents.
Teacher
causes
the
communications
to
be
facilitated
inter
human
and
communication
with
their
environments
and
promote
this.
•
Exploration
methods
for
the
subjects
of
Astronomy
at
first
and
second
intermediate
durations:
This
method
has
continually
been
done
to
be
an
opportunity
for
the
students
‘situation
and
also
prepare
a
suitable
environment
for
their
ability
improvements.
Presentation
of
the
exercises
should
be
proportionate
to
their
mental
ability.
The
Exploration
should
accompany
the
usage
of
instruments
of
leading
technology.
•
Educational
technologies
for
the
education
of
Astronomy
for
intermediate
course:
Such
technologies
includes
the
use
of
the
existing
sky
maps
for
night
and
day,
the
use
of
photography
and
film
using
Skye,
use
of
computers
and
computer
imagery,
to
use
cameras
and
various
kinds
of
telescopes
in
the
planetariums
and
to
visit
the
observatories.
Through
performing
spatial
phenomena,
the
students
of
the
intermediate
course
gain
the
opportunity
to
survey
ina
good
atmosphere
and
watch
the
interesting
astronomical
phenomena
which
is
performed
outside.
By
internet
and
communication
with
various
sites
especially
with
NASA
we
can
directly
connect
to
Hubble
telescope
and
survey
Sky
phenomena
on
the
earth.
Of
course
the
purpose
of
paying
attention
to
Astronomy
is
not
monopolistic
to
the
use
of
telescopes!
There
are
many
landscapes
in
the
night
sky
which
the
students
can
access
by
going
to
their
house
yard
and
looking
at
them
in
sky.
The
numbers
of
these
landscapes
are
even
more
than
what
we
consider.
It
is
correct
that
a
telescope
or
binocular
camera
is
a
useful
instrument
yet
for
education
of
Astronomy
and
to
be
familiar
with
the
beauties
of
sky
their
acquisition
is
not
necessary.
•
One
of
the
other
results
of
this
research
is
the
teachers’
lack
of
interest
or
knowledge
in
Astronomy
education.
Conception
of
the
knowledge
content
is
very
important
to
teaching
the
curriculum
of
astronomy.
Although
it
may
be
found
that
what
you
learn
today
is
not
applicable
for
the
next
year.
Thus,
and
the
more
importantly
the
teachers
have
to
know
how
to
prepare
themselves
for
teaching
Astronomy
which
consist
of
contextual
and
skills
knowledge.
The
teachers
of
the
connected
lessons
to
Astronomy
such
as
mathematics,
physics,
geometry,
geology,
and
geography
and
history
are
part
of
astronomy
education
and
should
be
included
in
training
classes.
Although
the
study
of
astronomy
has
provided
a
wealth
of
tangible,
monetary
and
technological
gains,
perhaps
the
most
important
aspect
of
astronomy
is
not
one
of
economical
measure.
Astronomy
has
and
continues
to
revolutionize
our
thinking
on
a
worldwide
scale.
In
the
past,
astronomy
has
been
used
to
measure
time,
mark
the
seasons,
and
navigate
the
vast
oceans.
As
one
of
the
oldest
sciences
astronomy
is
part
of
every
culture’s
history
and
roots.
It
inspires
us
with
beautiful
images
and
promises
answers
to
the
big
questions.
It
acts
as
a
window
into
the
immense
size
and
complexity
of
space,
putting
Earth
into
perspective
and
promoting
global
citizenship
and
pride
in
our
home
planet.
On
a
more
pressing
level,
astronomy
helps
us
study
how
to
prolong
the
survival
of
our
species.
For
example,
it
is
critical
to
study
the
Sun’s
influence
on
Earth’s
climate
and
how
it
will
affect
weather,
water
levels
etc.
Only
the
study
of
the
Sun
and
other
stars
can
help
us
to
understand
these
processes
in
their
entirety.
In
addition,
mapping
the
movement
of
all
the
objects
in
our
Solar
System,
allows
us
to
predict
the
potential
threats
to
our
planet
from
space.
On
a
personal
level,
teaching
astronomy
to
our
youth
is
also
of
great
value.
It
has
been
proven
that
pupils
who
engage
in
astronomy-related
educational
activities
at
a
at
a
primary
or
secondary
school
are
more
likely
to
pursue
careers
in
science
and
technology,
and
to
keep
up
to
date
with
scientific
discoveries
(National
Research
Council,
1991).
This
does
not
just
benefit
the
field
of
astronomy,
but
reaches
across
other
scientific
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education
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