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G. W. Wolf (SW Missouri State University), C. Long (Ozark High School)
The Astronomy Diagnostic Test version 2, as a pre-test, has been used for several years to gauge the preparedness of students in the basic astronomy courses at many universities and colleges. Surprisingly, students at many levels of universities and colleges, from the most selective to the least selective, seem to do about the same on this test. Astronomy misconceptions would therefore seem to be as ubiquitous among the students most prepared for college in other subject areas as among those least prepared.
Since the design of the test supposedly includes only concepts recognizable to most high-school graduates, it was decided to extend this test to the high school level. We wanted to see if the astronomical concepts became more recognizable as students progressed through their high school years or if those concepts, and misconceptions, were already in place when they entered high school. The test has been administered to several (non-astronomy) science classes from ninth through twelfth grade at a typical mid-western, non-selective, public high school in Ozark, Missouri. The results of this study will be presented.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 35#5
© 2003. The American Astronomical Soceity.