We present analytic approaches for examining students’ learning processes related to sun–Earth–moon phenomena. 6th-grade students conducted investigations in Inq-ITS, an NGSS-aligned simulation environment that generates real-time assessments of inquiry competencies from students’ interaction data Fine-grained logfile data were used to examine whether the order of activities influenced inquiry processes in subsequent investigations. Analyses revealed progressions in hypothesis- and data-collection practices, including control-of-variables strategy, and increasingly sophisticated mental models. These findings demonstrate how simulation-based environments and logfile analyses can provide insights into how students learn complex astronomical phenomena beyond traditional concept inventories.

About Mariel O'Brien

Mariel O’Brien is a PhD Candidate in science education at Rutgers University in New Jersey. She has worked in the field of astronomy education for 20 years, at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. Her research interests include NGSS-aligned astronomy education in middle school.