Astrobiology: A pathway to adult science literacy?

Oliver, Carol; Fergusson, Jennifer

doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2006.12.010

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 5 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Ideas on how to integrate astrochemistry into the precollegiate classroom are provided by Pagni ( 2007 ). Preliminary research into astrobiology as a means to raise the science literacy of students is outlined in the work of Oliver and Fergusson ( 2007 ), while an exploration of the relationship between the nature of science, creativity, and astrobiology can be found in the work of Fergusson, Oliver, and Walter ( 2012 ).…”

Section: Chapter 9 Resourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Astrobiology Primer v2.0

Wright²,

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Chapter 9 Resourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Astrobiology Primer v2.0

Wright²,

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Astrobiology, the study of the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe, is a relatively new field comprised of researchers from a range of scientific disciplines. Apart from its sublime object of study, astrobiology has been identified as a field that can integrate diverse sciences (Staley, 2003), provide a tangible target for interdisciplinary science education (Cockell, 2002), and provide a pathway to adult science literacy (Oliver and Fergusson, 2007). Many of the field's core questions require knowledge from multiple disciplines to be harvested, integrated and applied outside of their source domains, and as such, astrobiology is inherently interdisciplinary.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing researcher interdisciplinarity: a case study of the University of Hawaii NASA Astrobiology Institute

Gowanlock

Gazan

2012

Scientometrics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this study, we combine bibliometric techniques with a machine learning algorithm, the sequential Information Bottleneck, to assess the interdisciplinarity of research produced by the University of Hawaii NASA Astrobiology Institute (UHNAI). In particular, we cluster abstract data to evaluate Thomson Reuters Web of Knowledge subject categories as descriptive labels for astrobiology documents, assess individual researcher interdisciplinarity, and determine where collaboration opportunities might occur. We find that the majority of the UHNAI team is engaged in interdisciplinary research, and suggest that our method could be applied to additional NASA Astrobiology Institute teams in particular, or other interdisciplinary research teams more broadly, to identify and facilitate collaboration opportunities.

show abstract

“…In order to increase students' scientific literacy (Oliver & Fergusson 2007), critical thinking and knowledge of the nature of science, a course was created at the University of Texas at Austin. The hook of the course is the increasingly very popular, appealing, motivating and exciting subject of extraterrestrial life (Kaufman 2008; Oliveira 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aliens are us. An innovative course in astrobiology

Oliveira

Barufaldi

2009

International Journal of Astrobiology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We live in a scientific world; paradoxically, the scientific literacy of the population is minimal at best. Science is an ongoing process, a human endeavour; paradoxically, students tend to believe that science is a finished enterprise. Many non-science major students are not motivated in science classes; paradoxically, there is a public fascination with the possibility of life in the Universe, which is nowadays a scientific endeavour. An astrobiology course was developed at the Center for Science and Mathematics Education at The University of Texas at Austin to address these paradoxes and includes the following objectives: (a) to improve scientific literacy; (b) to demonstrate that science is a work in progress; (c) to enhance the inherent interdisciplinary aspect of science; (d) to demonstrate that science is embedded in society and relates with several social sciences; (e) to improve the content knowledge about the nature of science; (f) to illustrate how engaging learning science can be; and (g) to draw from the intrinsic motivation already incorporated in the general population. The course has been offered, taught and revised for the past three years. The informal course student feedback has been very positive and encouraging. The purpose of this paper is to provide a general overview of the course. In addition, the course's background, content, themes and mode of delivery are outlined, discussed and analysed in this paper. This paper subscribes to an educational philosophy that focuses on the multidisciplinary nature of science and includes critical thinking-based teaching strategies using the dynamic discipline of astrobiology.

show abstract

Astrobiology: A pathway to adult science literacy?

Cited by 4 publications

References 5 publications

The Astrobiology Primer v2.0

The Astrobiology Primer v2.0

Assessing researcher interdisciplinarity: a case study of the University of Hawaii NASA Astrobiology Institute

Aliens are us. An innovative course in astrobiology

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About