IMPROVEMENTS IN TEACHERS' KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF BASIC ASTRONOMY CONCEPTS THROUGH DIDACTIC GAMES

Astronomy is an attractive science topic also because of the ongoing research, new “revolutionary” discoveries and results that students can follow in the various media. In recent years, the media reported on the first observation of gravitational waves, all three rocket boosters successfully landed on Earth for the first time after launch, the first photo of a black hole, etc. All this revolutionary news increases curiosity and interest in astronomy. In the history of mankind, however, there are always a lot of “secrets” behind topics that are abstract and difficult for non-scientists to understand. Despite all the research and knowledge gained, there are still a lot of undiscovered and unrevealed issues that give room to people’s imagination. Probably for the same reason, many popular stories and movies are placed in the Space, to deepen the effect of the mysterious and arouse peoples’ interest. In order for students to make the “great leap” from the mystery of understanding the science concepts, correct “small steps” must also be taken in the educational process. Learning is a process that needs to be considered from many perspectives. Environment, genetic predispositions, experience, socio-cultural status, age. Sensorimotor skills have influence on cognition (Barrouillet, 2015; Bjorklund, 2018; Geršak et al., 2020; Goldin-Meadow, 2015; Lozada & Carro, 2016). Learning outcomes depend on motivation, teaching strategies, learning abilities, classroom climate and stage of cognitive development. The amount of findings and theories of development have so dramatically increased in the last decades that there is no unified account of developmental changes in cognitive processes that deemed as the ultimate aspiration of any theory of development (Barrouillet, 2015). However, many mechanisms hypothesized by Piaget are still present in one form or another (Barrouillet, 2015; Bjorklund, 2018; Glodin-Meadow, 2015). Several studies have emphaKatarina Susman, Jerneja Pavlin University of Ljubljana, Slovenia Abstract. Literature review shows that many primary school teachers have poor understanding of basic astronomy contents. Therefore, the aim of the study was to introduce specific astronomical content to in-service primary school teachers through two didactic games, to evaluate the didactic games and the teachers’ knowledge and understanding before and after the implementation of the didactic games. The research included 24 in-service primary school teachers. The data were collected through the knowledge test (pre-post design) and questionnaires for each didactic game. The results showed that the teachers evaluated the didactic games as suitable for use in the classroom as they emphasized that they are educational, explicit and interesting. The implementation was identified as effective because the median for fractional gains was 0.54 and showed the medium gain in teachers’ knowledge and understanding of selected astronomy contents. It was recognized that in-service primary school teachers do not feel competent for introducing complex astronomical contents to their students. However, the presented approach could encourage in-service primary school teachers to deepen their knowledge and to teach astronomy contents with a method that is closer to their students. University teachers could point out the advantages and disadvantages of didactic games in astronomy content and discuss them with pre-service primary school teachers.