UC Berkeley Astronomy
Teaching Discussion Group

a forum for current and future teachers since Summer 2006

This page is constantly evolving; please email me with contributions!

→   Teaching-Related Websites →   Recommended Books →   Science Education Research →   Local Outreach Opportunities

Teaching-Related Websites

AAS Education Office's list of Education Resources ASP's very useful list of astronomy education websites Eric Mazur's Physics Education page Java Applets for teaching astrophysics JiTT (Just-In-Time Teaching) Nick Strobel's Astronomy Notes Peer Instruction and ConcepTests for physics and astronomy by Paul Green at Harvard Project Galileo, a great site for innovative science teaching methods UC Berkeley's The Astronomy Learning Center (TALC) UC Berkeley's BADgrads teaching wiki page

Recommended Books

Green, Peer Instruction for Astronomy Seymour, Partners in Innovation: Teaching Assistants in College Science Courses Slater & Adams, Learner-Centered Astronomy Teaching: Strategies for ASTRO 101 Stigler & Hiebert, The Teaching Gap: Best Ideas from the World's Teachers for Improving Education in the Classroom

Science Education Research

Journals:         Astronomy Education Review         Journal of Research in Science Teaching         Journal of College Science Teaching         Physical Review Special Topics — Physics Education Research         Physics Education         The Physics Teacher Clearinghouses:         Education Resources Information Center (ERIC)         National Teaching and Learning Forum         Physics Education Research Central Articles and books suggested by Christina Ford (most links require UCB library proxy): "Assessing Students' Misclassification of Physics Concepts", Slotta et al. 1995, Cognition and Instruction, 14(3), 373 "Eliciting Self-Explanations Improves Understanding", Chi et al. 1994, Cognitive Science 18(3), 439 How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School, eds. Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, National Academies Press, 2000; see especially chapters on "How Experts Differ from Novices", "How Children Learn", and "Teacher Learning." "A US–Japan lesson study collaboration reveals critical lenses for examining practice", Fernandez et al. 2003, Teaching and Teacher Education, 19(2), 171 "Reflection: issues related to improving professors' teaching and students' learning", McAlpine & Weston 2000, Instructional Science, 28(5-6), 363 Other articles we've discussed: "Persuading Professors: A Study of the Dissemination of Educational Reform in Research Institutions", Foertsch et al. 1997 for NSF "Effectiveness of Collaborative Ranking Tasks on Student Understanding of Key Astronomy Concepts", Hudgkins et al. 2006, Astronomy Education Review, 5(1)

Local Outreach Opportunities

Bay Area Project ASTRO SSL Center for Science Education (Matt Browning has more info) More good links at the BADgrads wiki site!

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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant AST-0302123. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF. For more information or to contribute, please send email to Jennifer Hoffman. September 22, 2006