Continuing our work from a previous study (Coble et al. 2013), we examine undergraduates’ ideas on the composition of the Universe as they progress through a general education astronomy integrated lecture and laboratory course with a focus on active learning. The study was conducted over five semesters at an urban minority-serving institution. The data collected include individual interviews (N1⁄4 15) and course artifacts (N 60), such as prelab surveys, and midterm and final exam questions in a variety of formats. We find that students easily obtain a superficial knowledge of the origins of the chemical elements and the existence of dark matter and dark energy, which they are generally unaware of pre-instruction. However, they are hindered in their ability to reproduce the argument for the existence of dark matter at least in part because of weaknesses in their graph-reading abilities.

Kim Coble

Melissa D. Nickerson

Janelle M. Bailey

Laura E. Trouille

Geraldine L. Cochran

Carmen T. Camarillo

Lynn R. Cominsky

Astronomy Education Review

Investigating Student Ideas about Cosmology II: Composition of the Universe

探究学生对宇宙学的看法 II：宇宙的构成

Investigating Student Ideas about Cosmology II: Composition of the Universe

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