Analysis of Upper Secondary School Students' Understanding of the Celestial Sphere

Abstract

The aim of this study is to clarify how the first-grade upper secondary school students in Japan understand the celestial sphere by the questionnaire method. The followings are the major findings: 1) more than 30% of the students have never heard the celestial sphere: 2) None of the students who have heard about the celestial sphere had a scientifically correct understanding of it; and 3) The students had a variety of ideas about the celestial sphere, and the students' ideas could be classified into 13 categories.