Revitalizing astronomy teaching through research on student understanding

Which instructional strategies induce the largest conceptual and attitude gains in non -science majoring, undergraduate university students? To determine the effectiveness of lecture-based approaches in astronomy and astrob iology, we found that student scores on a 68- itern pre-test/post-test concept inventoty showed a statistically sign ificant increase from 30% to 52% correct. In contrast, stude nts evalua ted after the use of Lecture-Tutorials for lntroductory Astronomy increased to 72%. The Lecture-Tutorialsfor !11troducto1yA stronomy arc intende d for use during lectures by small student groups and to complement existing courses with conve ntional lectures. Based on extensive research on student understanding, Lecture-Tutorials for lntroductoty Astronomy offer professors an effective, learner-centered, classroom- ready alterna tive to lectures that docs not require any outs ide equipment or drastic course revision for implementation. Each 15-minute Lecture-Tutorial for Introductory Astronomy poses a carefully crafted sequence of concept ually challenging, Socratic -dialogue driven questions, along with graphs and data tables, all designed to encourage students to reason critically about difficult concepts in astronomy and astrobiology