'The big result was that a majority of students thought the universe was round <i>prior to taking ASTRO 101</i>. Their reasoning varied from appeals to authority (such as “I think I read it somewhere”) to the fact that there are so many round objects in the universe.'<p>'Some students also referenced the idea of the Big Bang as an explosion out from a central point, lending spherical imagery.'<p>'Students also expressed a lot of skepticism about our ability to measure the curvature of the universe. As one student interviewed stated, “Everything I’ve ever seen about…the shape of the universe was pure speculation.'