Extending the invitation: Supporting learners from gateway experiences to participating in astronomical research
Abstract
NITARP provides a forum in which educators conduct authentic astronomical research with guidance from practicing astrophysicists within an interactive professional learning community. As educators learn to conduct astronomical research, they are simultaneously creating educational outreach programs that connect other educators and secondary students to the research process. This means that, at any given time, participants may be learning astronomical content knowledge, field-specific research methodology, computer programs or devising teaching curricula and methods to extend the research experience to others. To support future endeavors, education research methodologies were employed to document the critical junctures where learning might be thwarted (Laurence, Kelley, Becker, Day & Marshall, 2006). These findings benefit the field in general as conducting authentic research is a key initiative in science education. NITARP also fills a unique critical juncture in the astronomical field. While astronomy is often called a gateway science there remains a precipitous drop-off in the number of students or educators who choose to extend their learning beyond planetarium experiences and introductory courses. To provide an invitation into research, and effective support along the way, we asked the question: What supports and cognitive frameworks learners would need to move from observation to research? Our poster will highlight three necessary skill sets: 1) Visualization constructed from multiple sets of data and images to create data driven conclusions; 2) Team research engagement practices, focused on grappling with data that does not have THE answer but rather a series of patterns or comparisons; 3) The use of multiple software programs, trouble shooting and compatibility. Our poster will discuss the teaching challenges and supports we developed to bring students through the research process and widen the gateway to STEM learning. This project was made possible through the NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Project (NITARP) and was funded by NASA’s Astrophysics Data Program and Archive Outreach funds.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #223
- Pub Date:
- January 2014
- Bibcode:
- 2014AAS...22324903L