From a noted specialist in astronomy education and outreach, this Brief
provides an overview of the most influential discipline-based science
education research literature now guiding contemporary astronomy
teaching. In recent years, systematic studies of effective and efficient
teaching strategies have provided a solid foundation for enhancing
college-level students' learning in astronomy. Teaching astronomy and
planetary science at the college-level was once best characterized as
professor-centered, information-download lectures. Today, astronomy
faculty are striving to drastically improve the learning environment by
using innovative teaching approaches. Uniquely, the authors have
organized this book around strands of commonly employed astronomy
teaching strategies to help readers, professors, and scholars quickly
access the most relevant work while, simultaneously, avoiding the highly
specialized, technical vocabulary of constructivist educational
pedagogies unfamiliar to most astronomy professors. For readers who are
currently teaching astronomy at the college level--or those who plan on
teaching at the college level in the future--this Brief provides an
indispensable guide.