Abstracts
STScI Education
Evaluation
2005 IDEAS Statistics & Abstracts
| This year, the IDEAS Grant Program drew 33 proposal submissions. Fifteen proposals were accepted for funding. The ratio of proposals awarded funding compared to the total number of submissions was approximately 1:2. |
ABSTRACTS Space Mission 3D Sonification Planetarium Show and Internet
Portal Innovative 3D musically encoded audio displays integrate the presentation of STEREO mission data using a powerful and flexible software visualization framework to form the basis for an interactive space weather web site and A Walk Through the Solar System data exploration planetarium exhibit. The program team includes a strong mix of educators, software and sonification artist/engineers, scientists, and visually challenged scientists. It builds on a substantial base of information designs developed over 10 years by Design Rhythmics Sonification Research Lab. The EPO team at UC Berkeley Space Science Lab will identify relevant mission data, the Shirohisa Ikeda Project at the University of Puerto Rico will evaluate the audio displays for sue by the blind, and the Houston and Christa McAuliffe Planetarium will evaluate the planetarium show and website propotypes. Connecting Astronomy In 1998, the state of New Jersey introduced rigorous astronomy standards with performance expectations for grades 2, 4, 6, 8, and 12. School districts struggle to meet these standards. Most teachers lack a deep, coherent understanding of astronomy concepts and districts’ astronomy curricula lack coherence. Difficult concepts, such as the reasons for seasons or the explanation for moon phases, eclipses, and tides, are frequently taught in a single grade and often before students are developmentally ready. The program would partner with six school districts and assist them in designing a coherent astronomy curriculum, and provide sustained professional development to support the districts. The program team will initially work with district teams of four teachers distributed over grades K-12 and supported by a district administrator. The teams will receive intensive, one-week training in astronomy content and pedagogy centered around five big ideas in astronomy. There will be emphasis on constructivism, inquiry-based learning, and best practices supported by sound astronomy education research. After the training, the teams will act as advocates and agents for astronomy curricular reform and sustained professional development within their districts. The project’s effectiveness will be evaluated to determine the effect on teacher’s understanding of astronomy concepts as well as their knowledge of research-based best practices in astronomy. The team will utilize education professionals involved in creating the state standards to assess the changes to the districts’ astronomy curricula. The results of the project will be disseminated through presentations at statewide and national education meetings and conferences and will be submitted to Astronomy Education Review. Space Science Quilts The program will provide a professional development experience for science teachers paired with art educators to jointly create physical models of a variety of space science concepts and phenomena. Building on the Project ASTRO model of a scientist-educator partnership, the team will include art teachers in the workshops to collaborate in creating models which contain illustrations as well as technical and creative writing samples related to the astronomical images. Emphasis will be placed not only on the creative aspect of art to design an aesthetically pleasing final science product, but more importantly on art pedagogy to help students visualize certain science concepts using developmentally appropriate skills. The inclusion of art pedagogy will allow students to form more accurate mental models and prevent the formation of misconceptions based on poor imagery. While the end product of a visual explanation of some new concept or phenomenon, such as “day and night” or “the formation of the solar system” supports the National Science Education Standards for content, the process of developing mental models of space-based concepts is equally important. The end product will take the form of a quilt since quilts are a collection of images that can be thematic, and they integrate science, math, and art. Science pedagogy emphasizes content, process, and critical thinking skills, and art pedagogy emphasizes visual representation and process. As such, the collaboration between science and art teachers will provide students with new ways to access abstract astronomical concepts and phenomena in a visual and concrete way. How Cool is Space? Bringing Astronomy and Space Sciences
to Our Communities Ohio State University at Lima (OSUL) in partnership with the Lima City Schools and community agencies will develop an integrated informal science education and community program that will bring the stars, solar system and space sciences to the underserved community through hands-on space physics, Starlab experiences, and “Star Parties”- evenings of Starlab presentations and visual observing through a Meade 16” telescope. While Lima City Schools’ 5th and 8th grade students are the primary audience, all activities will be available to surrounding school districts and community groups. The primary goal is to increase students’ understanding of space and astronomy through participation in innovative informal science education experiences that will be aligned with state and national education standards. Cool Space will also engage youth and families in space science activities, expose OSUL students to careers related to science education, and introduce 5th and 8th grade students to careers in space sciences. Exploring the Universe Astronomy and space are exciting topics that capture the imagination of learners at all ages. A themed after school computer club will be designed to engage 4th-6th grade kids in exploring space and astronomy topics. This computer club will be tested in a suburban and an urban school to engage diverse groups of kids with astronomy and space science web-based resources and support them in developing creative representations (with computers and video) of their new knowledge. The students will be prompted to showcase these representations at a science and technology exhibit. Such themed and scaffolded after school experiences will better facilitate knowledge and skill development than traditional unstructured experiences lacking specific learning goals. The exciting nature of astronomy and space provides a motivational theme upon which interests, knowledge, and skills can grow. The intent of the program is to create, test, and document such an environment for replication. To Infinity and Beyond Developed from a partnership between an educational researcher
and an astronomer at the University of Central Florida (UCF), this
program will develop, pilot, and refine materials with the Orlando
Science Center (OSC) and three low-income high schools in the Orange
County Public School District. Using telescopes and microscopes,
the program will focus on meteorites initially with materials exploring
the way space science in presented in popular movies. Drawing from
this starting point, the program will have four components: To Infinity and Beyond seeks to bridge formal and informal science education with these four components organized around the topic of meteorites and emphasizing the role of telescopes and microscopes in the exploration of this aspect of space science. Dissemination through the OSC, the Kennedy Space Center’s Educator Resource Center, and through the UCF online, has been planned to ensure sustainability and broader impact. Inspiring and Mentoring Students for Faulkes Telescope
North Astronomy Projects With the use of the 2.0 meter professional Faulkes Telescope North (FTN) on Maui, support of the University of Hawaii NASA Astrobiology Institute E/PO program, and the teacher network in Hawaii, the program will allow high school students conduct astronomy research mentored by UH astronomers. To accomplish this, a mentoring program will be finalized, suitable projects will be established, and recruited students will have the opportunity to observe and develop image-processing skills before embarking on their projects. The Deep Impact Mission has been motivating students to do research on Comet Tempel 1. This pilot process will be used to continue collaborating with students, teachers, and astronomers to assist with basic astronomy skills. Also, the program team will develop projects for FTN, the largest remote observing telescope dedicated for education. The existing projects for smaller telescopes do not fully utilize the capabilities of FTN. As mentoring programs and projects are developed, the team will pilot draft projects through mini-workshops for students and teachers. Input from all stakeholders will be encouraged and used to improve the mentoring and project materials. The desired outcome will be competitive student projects that would advance to the International Science Fair competition and hopefully to advanced degrees in science, engineering, and astronomy. STARS After School Initiative The Timothy Smith Network (TSN) in partnership with the MIT Kavli Institute EPO proposes developing the Students Through Astronomy Reach for the Stars (STARS) After School Initiative, a model for implementing After School Astronomy Project (ASAP) for underserved and underrepresented urban high school youth enrollment in community-based, after school settings. The ASAP is a comprehensive initiative designed to promote the pursuit of science learning among underrepresented and underserved youth and to build the capacity of urban community-based centers to deliver innovative science out-of-school programming to their youth. The TSN STARS will provide ASAP training for at least 75 Roxbury and Boston high school-aged youth to increase their astronomy and other STEM skills and to expose these youth to opportunities for higher education and careers in STEM-related fields. Feel the Impact The program is a partnership between the Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL), NASA space scientists at the University of Maryland, education consultants from Tactile Learning Adventures, and the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind (CSDB) to develop, pilot test, disseminate, field test, and evaluate a science inquiry module titled Feel the Impact for visually impaired students using imagery and data from NASA’s Deep Impact mission. An existing Adaptive Curriculum Enhancement (ACE) website on the McREL server will deliver these materials free-of-charge for educators and/or parents working with visually impaired students. Feel the Impact will be based on the successful partnership of McREL and University of Maryland as part of its role in three of NASA’s Discovery missions, which include Genesis, Deep Impact, and Dawn. New materials, aligned with National Science Education Standards, will be developed for visually impaired students and their teachers and organized into the Feel the Impact ACE module. The module will contain a learning cycle involving exploration, concept invention, and expansion. The project will also develop comprehensive guides for use by NASA mission E/PO providers for adapting graphics and images for both visually impaired students and the general public. Deep Impact images will be used as an example. These guidelines will be posted on the ACE website and professional development will be provided to E/PO leads through NASA Education Forum teleconferences and the NASA Broker/Facilitator dissemination lists. Telescope Observations and Astronomy Demonstrations The purpose of this proposal is to secure funding for a "Stars for Students" program of telescope observations and hands-on astronomy demonstrations for seriously ill children with special medical needs and their families (including other children and adults family members) who are staying at the Long Island Ronald McDonald House in conjunction with children’s surgery and medical treatments at the adjacent Schneider Children’s Hospital. The telescope observations and hands-on astronomy demonstrations will provide a unique family learning experience. Innovative edible demonstrations using chocolate, marshmallows, and popcorn will be used to present astronomy, earth science, and space science concepts. An important component of this program will be to train the education staff to use the telescope for demonstrations and to conduct family astronomy demonstrations throughout the year to take advantage of clear weather and interesting celestial events. This education and public outreach program will improve public science education and science awareness for these children and their family members. This program will also reach an underrepresented group since most of the families who stay at the Ronald McDonald House are from a minority or socio-economically disadvantaged population. Astronomical Research Projects Utilizing NASA and Robotic
Telescope Data A carefully selected set of activities employing NASA data and observations from the NFO WebScope will empower students to do authentic science projects with real data. By comparing NASA and ground-based data they will understand, in a personal way, the value of space-based observations. Students will learn about objects in space, obtain images from NASA sources, including the digital sky survey, request and process color imaging data, study the Moon and planets from space and from the ground, measure distances using Cepheid variable stars, and do research on near-Earth objects using space and ground-based data. The program team will initiate a pilot program to develop, implement, and evaluate curricular materials and software that allows students (5th-12th grade) to use NASA data as well as to directly interact with the operation of a robotic research-grade telescope at a remote location (NFO WebScope/www.nfo.edu). The program team will use process and outcome methods of evaluation to improve the educational activities. The program’s teacher leaders and website will be used to disseminate our education products. Entry-level students will be able to begin to do real science projects on their own. The program will be a motivational launch pad to help students enter the wonderful world of NASA websites and data. Rejecting Myths and Misconceptions in Astronomy for the
Middle Grades The core of this planned curriculum is to develop materials that counter myths and change misconceptions in astronomy. A writing team consisting of a Physics astronomer, a Science Educator and an elementary graduate assistant will create four curriculum units for the middle (4-8) grades. An ancillary website that includes links to NASA resources will be a component in the curriculum development. Lessons designed to address a specific misconception will have background information for the teachers. When appropriate, each lesson will have a pre-concept mapping activity to assess student understanding of a concept prior to lesson implementation. An in-depth paper/pencil initial questioning on a specific astronomy concept followed by an analysis of responses by the teacher to determine the modeling strategy necessary to change misconceptions will be administered. A subsequent inquiry-based research opportunity for students and an in-depth discussion/question time on the concept and post-concept mapping activity will end a lesson. Presentations by cooperative groups followed by discussions with question and answer will be a major component of the inquiry-based activities within lessons. Lessons that focus on myths will differ from the misconception lessons. The myth about humans never landing on the moon for example will rely considerably on NASA information, discussion, and question/answer. Other “myth busting” activities will involve students in the nature of science, how scientists think, and the science processes. National standards alignment, field testing with approximately 130 pre-service teachers, and national dissemination are additional program characteristics. Blackfeet Skies Hopa Mountain, Inc, Blackfeet Community College, Montana State University, and the Montana Space Grant Consortium propose to collaboratively develop and present a series of interactive “Blackfeet Skies” Starlab presentations and real sky observation experiences to tribal educators, youth, and adults. Over the course of two years, the project team will work together to create a set of public outreach presentations supported by the latest research, science education standards, and Blackfeet Intelligence Standards for tribal educators, K-12 students, tribal college students, and the general public. The program theme will focus on exploring the cosmos through Blackfeet knowledge and Western space science. Formal and informal science programs will introduce Blackfeet sky knowledge and sky observing techniques through orientation programs in a Starlab Portable Planetarium using the native Skies cylinder and a specially-developed cylinder featuring Blackfeet star patterns. Programs will also utilize Sunspotter solar telescopes as models for scientific exploration, with connections between native stories about the sun and research areas in NASA’s Space Science Directorate, including the Sun-Earth Connections and studies by MSU solar physicist David McKenzie. Additional connections between Blackfeet creation stories and origins of the cosmos will be made through a collaboration with MST astrophysicist Neil Cornish. The investigators involved with the program have extensive experience in astronomy education and outreach, and they also have direct access to other NASA education resources. Cratering Analysis for REAL: Investigating Craters in the
Solar System Real Explorations in Astronomy Learning (REAL) is an innovative
new approach to student learning that thoughtfully integrates the
excitement of space science discovery with science and mathematics.
Students will explore NASA images of planetary surfaces using the
contexts of crater density, cratering rates, and surface age while
developing critical thinking skills in science and mathematics that
can be applied to any number of real-life situations. Project REAL
will develop, implement, and evaluate an integrated astronomy curriculum
designed for middle level students that focuses on the tools necessary
for astronomy research concerning the origins and evolution of surface
features on planetary bodies within our Solar System. Through our
REAL curriculum, the program team will give students the opportunity
to experience the excitement of exploration by becoming real space
science researchers. The program team will provide students with: Following the completion of the curriculum and its two-year implementation and evaluation, the program team plans to incorporate the REAL curriculum into ongoing professional development in the Lubbock Independent School District, and nationally disseminate it through publication and Internet methods. It's Our Universe The program is collaboration among professional astronomers, amateur
astronomers, and the local public library to pilot a series of multi-faceted
astronomy and space science outreach activities. The target audience
is the underrepresented and underserved populace in Athens County
in Appalachian Ohio. The program team will make a special effort
to reach children in both formal and home-schooled environments
through the informal setting of the library. The program has three
components spanning a one-year period: Results will be disseminated through national conferences, amateur astronomy meetings, and regional radio. Parts of the program will be replicated in other branches of the county library system. |