The paper discusses a survey about students' (aged 11-20) understanding of the Big Bang, asking the question “If you have heard of the Big Bang Theory in Astronomy, what is it?”. The research was carried out by university-based researchers in the USA.

Learners’ ideas

• Over 70% of students believed that matter existed in some form prior to the Big Bang.
• Some students suggested that a single, compressed, very small, point-like massive object existed prior to the Big Bang.
• Many students held the idea that “you can’t make something from nothing.”

Suggestions

• Regardless of whether a "you can’t make something from nothing" idea does exist, an instructor will need to alter the conventional textbook-based approach to instruction.

Study Structure

Aims

This study was designed to assess whether students had heard of the Big Bang and, if so, to describe it. To further examine this result, the second group of college students were asked specifically to describe what existed or occurred before, during, and after the Big Bang.

Evidence collection

Data was collected via a pre-existing survey. A qualitative analysis was performed.

Details of the sample

The sample consisted of nearly 1000 students from middle school, secondary school, and college (ages 11-20).