Re: Relationship between Earth Moon

["John S. Denker" <jsd@MONMOUTH.COM>]

In the context of:
> >>>I find it hard to believe the statement above.
> How did you obtain the data that suggests that
> "most students in college do not grasp the relationship
> between the earth and the moon" and that "most think
> that the moon is close enough to take a plane to?<<<<

At 07:57 AM 9/14/01 -0500, Tina Fanetti wrote:

> I came to this conclusion based on interviews and on surveys handed out to
> students.  The survey questions were:
>
> 1..  Explain, as clearly as you can, why it is the Moon sometimes appears
> as a full bright circle like this,  (drawing of circle)       and
> sometimes the Moon can appear as a crescent like this, (drawing of crescent).
>
> 2.  .  On the back of this page, draw the Earth-Moon System as a scale
> model.  (This means draw the Earth and Moon the correct sizes for a sheet
> of paper.  Also, make sure that you have the correct distance apart for a
> sheet of paper.)  Don't worry about being exact, just be as close as you
> can.  Please explain why you drew the Earth-Moon System the way you
> did.  Please be sure to label all the items in you sketch!
>
> After collecting all the surveys, before and after instruction.  I
> measured the circles and set up ratios.  Most Student drew the earth and
> moon less then 3 earth diameters apart.
>
> I can send you the actual data if you would like

Remember:  there is a distinction between
 -- the data, and
 -- the interpretation placed upon the data.

We can accept the data without accepting the interpretation.

 1) The data cited above does not support the interpretation that students
do not grasp the relationship between the earth and the moon.

 2) The data cited above does not support the interpretation that students
think the moon is close enough to take a plane to.

If somebody wants to support those interpretations, additional and
qualitatively different data will be required.