Do You Always Need a Textbook to Teach Astro 101?
- 1 December 2013
- journal article
- Published by Portico in Astronomy Education Review
- Vol. 12 (1)
- https://doi.org/10.3847/aer2012036
Abstract
The increasing use of interactive learning strategies in Astro 101 classrooms has led some instructors to consider the usefulness of a textbook in such classes. These strategies provide students a learning modality very different from the traditional lecture supplemented by reading a textbook and homework, and raises the question of whether the learning that takes place during such interactive activities is enough by itself to teach students what we wish them to know about astronomy. To address this question, assessment data is presented from an interactive class, which was first taught with a required textbook, and then with the textbook being optional. Comparison of test scores before and after this change shows no statistical difference in student achievement whether a textbook is required or not. In addition, comparison of test scores of students who purchased the textbook to those who did not, after the textbook became optional, also show no statistical difference between the two groups. The Light and Spectroscopy Concept Inventory (LSCI), a research-validated assessment tool, was given pre- and post-instruction to three classes that had a required textbook, and one for which the textbook was optional, and the results demonstrate that the student learning gains on this central topic were statistically indistinguishable between the two groups. Finally, the Star Properties Concept Inventory (SPCI), another research-validated assessment tool, was administered to a class for which the textbook was optional, and the class performance was higher than that of a group of classes in a national studyKeywords
Other Versions
This publication has 19 references indexed in Scilit:
- Academically AdriftPublished by University of Chicago Press ,2010
- Survey of Introductory Astrophysics TextbooksAstronomy Education Review, 2007
- Development and Validation of the Light and Spectroscopy Concept InventoryAstronomy Education Review, 2006
- Effectiveness of Collaborative Ranking Tasks on Student Understanding of Key Astronomy ConceptsAstronomy Education Review, 2006
- Five Easy Lessons: Strategies for Successful Physics TeachingAmerican Journal of Physics, 2004
- The Role of Assessment in the Development of the College Introductory Astronomy CourseAstronomy Education Review, 2001
- Peer Instruction: Ten years of experience and resultsAmerican Journal of Physics, 2001
- Influence of text structure on learning counterintuitive physics conceptsJournal of Research in Science Teaching, 1997
- Promoting Conceptual Change in Science: A Comparative Meta-Analysis of Instructional Interventions from Reading Education and Science EducationReading Research Quarterly, 1993
- Textbook use and the biology education desired stateJournal of Research in Science Teaching, 1992