No abstract

YOllllg children, students, and adults may have altemative ideas about the motion ofthe Sllll and stars as we observe them in the sky. However, a good llllderstanding ofthis apparent motion is essential as a starting point to study more advanced astronomical concepts, especially when these include astronomical observations. In this paper, we describe the development and validation of the apparent motion of Sllll and stars (AMoSS) test, which can measure to what extent students have insight into the apparent motion of the Sun and stars. We propose a framework that allows one to compare students' understanding of the specific aspects of these apparent motions in relation to the time of the day, time of the year, and the observer's latitude. For each of these aspects, we designed test items for both the Sllll and the symmetric apparent motion aspect of the stars. The reliability and validity of the test are established by analyzing answers of both secondary school and university students and by presenting the questions to a panel of experts. We report on the design and validation process and present the fmal version of the test.