Janelle M. Bailey

Astronomy education research (AER) offers insights into a variety of topics, such as teaching and learning across formal and informal setting, professional development for teachers and faculty, attitudes and beliefs about astronomy, and public understanding of astronomy topics. The field has broadened dramatically from being focused on identification of naïve conceptions and the evaluation of teaching strategies. Collaborations across many settings and areas of expertise are allowing astronomy education researchers to push boundaries into new areas of research. Likewise, publication venues vary widely, providing both opportunities and challenges to researchers who want to share their research with the larger community. Future directions for AER include but are not limited to improved methodological designs, such as the use of mixed methods or robust quantitative analyses; longitudinal studies; and new topics such as spatial thinking in astronomy, motivation and related constructs, and the use of visualizations and simulations.