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ERIC Number: EJ900147
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1539-1515
EISSN: N/A
Student Ideas about Kepler's Laws and Planetary Orbital Motions
Yu, Ka Chun; Sahami, Kamran; Denn, Grant
Astronomy Education Review, v9 n1 p010108-1-010108-17 2010
We present the analysis of oral interviews with 112 undergraduate nonmajor students during the first week of a General Education Introduction to Astronomy class before they had received any instruction. The students were asked questions relating to Kepler's three Laws of Motion, as well as their understanding of what keeps planets in orbit around the Sun. The most common misconception found in about three-quarters of the interviews is the belief that planetary orbits about the Sun are highly elliptical. Less common ideas include a mix of circular and highly elliptical orbital shapes. Many students have conceptions consistent with the Kepler's Second and Third Laws of Motion, and the ease with which these models are adopted by students may suggest some ways to teach these concepts via analogy. The types of ideas about orbital shapes and orbital behavior may originate in common depictions of orbits often seen in print and on the Internet. (Contains 1 table and 5 figures.)
American Astronomical Society. 2000 Florida Avenue NW Suite 400, Washington, DC 20009. Tel: 800-874-6383; Fax: 516-349-9704; e-mail: help@scitation.org; Web site: http://aer.aip.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Colorado
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A