Document Type
Article
Publication Date
6-15-2018
Publication Title
Physical Review Physics Education Research
Volume
14
Issue
1
First page number:
1
Last page number:
16
Abstract
We examined teachers’ spatial-scientific reasoning and the alternative conceptions they held regarding Earth-space content. While participating in a professional development (PD) workshop, teachers engaged in an integrated mathematics and science project-based unit designed to foster spatial reasoning and improve lunar-related conceptual understanding. The Purdue Spatial Visualization Test-Rotation (PSVT-Rot) and the Lunar Phases Concept Inventory (LPCI) were used to assess understanding. We found the teachers held similar alternative conceptions as their students. Moreover, we discovered that teachers had limited understanding of the Earth-Moon-Sun scale, motions, and geometric configurations. To determine how teachers’ spatial-scientific confidence and ability translated to their classroom practice, we videotaped and analyzed instruction conducted by 6 teachers on an Earth-space lesson. Two teachers with the highest spatial-scientific confidence and ability had students achieving significant learning outcomes on both the PSVT-Rot and the LPCI.
Disciplines
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning | Science and Mathematics Education
File Format
application/pdf
File Size
1.556 Kb
Language
English
Repository Citation
Wilhelm, J.,
Cole, M.,
Cohen, C.,
Lindell, R.
(2018).
How Middle Level Science Teachers Visualize and Translate Motion, Scale, and Geometric Space of the Earth-Moon-Sun System with Their Students.
Physical Review Physics Education Research, 14(1),
1-16.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.14.010150