Supporting Systemic Science Reform - Collaboration to Advance Teaching Technology and Science (CATTS) and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO)

Through the NSF-funded Collaboration to Advance Teaching Technology and Science (CATTS), graduate and undergraduate students in the sciences partner with elementary, middle, and high school teachers to support efforts in science education. One such partnership, sponsored by the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), works to enhance the teaching of astronomy and optics-related topics. Graduate and undergraduate Fellows in the CATTS/NOAO program support the efforts of teachers through the classroom implementation of GEMS (Great Explorations in Math and Science) curriculum guides such as Invisible Universe, Living With a Star, Real Reasons for the Seasons, Color Analyzers, and More Than Magnifiers. These guides are inquiry-based, hands-on activities that closely align with the National Science Education Standards. Details of the guides as well as the organization and benefits of the partnership will be described here. The NOAO/CATTS collaboration represents a high leverage program using quality instructional materials as part of a professional development effort for teachers while providing valuable student experiences in science education. As such, it represents an effective educational model that may be duplicated at other research facilities with EPO missions. The University of Arizona's Collaboration to Advance Teaching Technology and Science (CATTS) program is sponsored under grant 9979670 from the National Science Foundation. NOAO is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), Inc. under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation.