Development of a Learning Progression for the Formation of the Solar System

Abstract

This study describes the process of defining a hypothetical learning progression (LP) for astronomy around the big idea of Solar System formation. At the most sophisticated level, students can explain how the formation process led to the current Solar System by considering how the planets formed from the collapse of a rotating cloud of gas and dust. Development of this LP was conducted in 2 phases. First, we interviewed middle school, high school, and college students (N = 44), asking them to describe properties of the current Solar System and to explain how the Solar System was formed. Second, we interviewed 6th-grade students (N = 24) before and after a 15-week astronomy curriculum designed around the big idea. Our analysis provides evidence for potential levels of sophistication within the hypothetical LP, while also revealing common alternative conceptions or areas of limited understanding that could form barriers to progress if not addressed by instruction. For example, many students' understanding of Solar System phenomena was limited by either alternative ideas about gravity or limited application of momentum in their explanations. Few students approached a scientific-level explanation, but their responses revealed possible stepping stones that could be built upon with appropriate instruction.

Design and development of a learning progression about stellar structure and evolution

“…Concerning the hydrostatic equilibrium dimension, ideas of students about the role of gravity in stars' formation and stability confirm findings in Ref. [12], where they found that at lower levels of their LP about the Solar System, students did not use gravity to justify the process of matter aggregation in the formation of the planets and the Sun. To explain such a result, they suggested a difficulty of students in recognizing that gases have masses.…”

“…Earth and space perspective and the relationships between spatial and causal reasoning were adopted by our group to develop a unifying LP about seasonal changes, Moon phases, and solar and lunar eclipses [11]. Recently, a LP has been proposed about Solar System formation based on four interrelated dimensions: physical properties, dynamical properties, formation, and gravity [12]. While representing valuable efforts, such LPs cover only partially the richness of astronomy and astrophysics endeavors, especially for higher levels of education.…”

Finding the time: Exploring a new perspective on students’ perceptions of cosmological time and efforts to improve temporal frameworks in astronomy

“…In a study exploring nearly 1000 students' ideas about the big bang from middle school through college, Prather et al [13] found that 70% of students responded that matter existed prior to the big bang. In this study as well as others [4,10,12], it is commonly observed that students describe the big bang as a process that formed Earth or our Solar System in a variety of different ways. Unfortunately, students even self-report taking an astronomy course(s) in the past and proceed to incorrectly respond to questions.…”

“…Deeper investigations have shown that students often describe the big bang in a manner that is not consistent with the modern cosmological model, instead describing it as a phenomenon organizing preexisting matter (e.g., subatomic particles, molecules, stars, or planets). Students also conflate the big bang with later planetary formation events [10,12,13], which are fundamentally different physical processes.…”

Developing a Four-level Learning Progression and Assessment for the Concept of Buoyancy

“…Plummer and Maynard (2014) developed the learning progression for 8 th graders' reasoning about the seasons and proposed a construct map consistent with the Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012). Plummer, Palma, Flarend, Rubin, Ong, Botzer, & McDonald (2015) illustrated the process of defining a hypothetical learning progression model for learning astronomy concept of solar system formation. Mohan, Chen, Anderson (2009) proposed a learning progression for carbon cycling in socio-ecological systems for students in grades 4-12.…”