Space to Grow: The Faulkes Telescope and improving science engagement in schools a major new science education initiative under the ARC Linkage Industry scheme

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Space to Grow The Faulkes Telescope and
improving science engagement in schoolsa major
new science education initiative under the ARC
Linkage Industry scheme

• A/Professor Quentin Parker MQ
• A/Prof David McKinnon Dr Lena Danaia CSU
• Prof J.Hedberg, Dr David Frew MQ

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Major Meeting of Stakeholders

• Macquarie University, Sydney, June 5th
• Purpose
• Provide scope and overview of the project
• Meet research team
• Outline research methodology
• Participate in question and answer session
• Choose schools for first intervention
• Organise PD sessions for relevant teachers
• Enjoy tea and biccies over a chat ?

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ARC Linkage Grant Partners

• Macquarie University (A/Professor Quentin
  Parker(CI1), Professor John Hedberg (CI4), Dr
  David Frew (Post-doctoral Fellow)- administering
  organisation
• Charles Sturt University (A/Professor David
  McKinnon (CI2), Dr Lena Danaia (CI3, named APDI))
• Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network
  (Wayne Rosing (President))
• CEO Parramatta (22 schools)
• CEO Bathurst (6 schools)
• DET Western Region (8 schools)
• Possible DET Peninsular and other schools from
  2010
• Scope 9000 students, 200 teachers 40
  schools ? will provide significant statistical
  power in research findings.
• Grant is worth over 2.3 million for three years.
• Made up of in-kind contributions from partner
  organisations

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BASIC FT PROJECT STRUCTURE
CEO Parra/Bathurst and DET Stakeholders
Project Leaders (CIs) A/Prof Q.A.Parker
(MQ) A/Prof.D.McKinnon(CSU
CI/Consultants ICT innov.centre Hedberg, Evans,
LCOGTn FT support
Project Admin Management- Appointments in train
(MQ)
MQ Team
CSU TEAM
APDI Dr.Lena Danaia
PD Dr.David Frew
PhD students (CSU)
PhD student (MQ)
Schools,Teachers Classes across jurisdictions
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The problem we are facing in Australia in science
education
Slide courtesy Mark Butler
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THE CRISIS IN SCIENCE EDUCATION RE-IMAGINING
SCIENCE EDUCATION ACER AER51(Tytler 2007)

• Increasingly negative attitudes to science
  developed over the secondary schooling years
• Decreasing participation in the enabling sciences
  in senior high school
• Shortage of SET trained people in the workforce
• Shortage of qualified science and mathematics
  teachers

Slide courtesy Mark Butler
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ARC LINKAGE INDUSTRY PROJECT 2.3M 2009-2012
Space to Grow The Faulkes Telescope and
improving science engagement in schools

• The 30M Faulkes Telescopes are the world's
  largest built primarily for science education
• They form the basis for this project to
  investigate how the hook of astronomy combined
  with cutting edge technology can improve more
  general science engagement by students in high
  schools and beyond
• The robotic telescopes are accessed/controlled
  via the internet bringing the wonders of Deep
  Space into the classroom.
• The on-line experience addresses key science
  curriculum areas while developing generic skills
  using unique, innovative, cutting-edge
  technology.
• Students can compete and take ownership of real
  research projects at a level appropriate to their
  level of scientific development with suitable
  support from their teachers and project staff
• Support comes from a dedicated team of
  scientists, science educators, consultants,
  postdoctoral fellows, PhD students and project
  management support.
• A key aspect is the targetted professional
  development training of science teachers and
  associated mentoring to gain the skills and
  ICT/content confidence needed
• The project will undertake fundamental
  pedagogical research as well as developing
  relevant interactive teaching materials that can
  integrate these powerful facilities into the
  science curriculum.

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Faulkes Telescopes (2-metre mirrors)
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The FaulkesTelescpes use in Australian Schools

• These telescopes have the potential to play an
  important role in physics education for at least
  the next 15 years
• They have the potential to work on many different
  levels
• Covers a wide variety of science educational
  areas in maths, science and technology including
• Scientific methodology
• Generic skills
• Planning, observing, data collating, testing and
  comparing
• An excellent use of and test of the capacity of
  the broad-band internet connectivity in NSW to
  deliver high quality scientific data sets to
  school classrooms

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Motivating students to study science and
technology
Excitement of real discoveries
Inherent fascination of astronomy and space
Collaboration with real scientists
Fabulous images
Up to the minute science
Cutting edge multi-million dollar technology
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Education/Research Projects for HSC students
Relevant to syllabuses
Suitable for coursework
Excellent for key skills
Genuine scientific investigations
Backed by full web materials
Contribute to scientific knowledge
Linked with professional scientists
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Sites of the Faulkes Telescopes
Hawaii FT (North)
Australia FT (South)
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Projects Creative Breakthrough

• A blend of science, technology and mathematics
  underpins the entire novel educational concept.
• The projects creative breakthrough was in
  effectively and naturally combining all these
  areas into the same project using the Faulkes
  Telescopes and the pulling power of astronomy as
  the facilitating mechanisms.
• This can then be powerfully implemented by the
  unique combination of professional astronomers,
  ICT staff, science teachers and education experts
  in the same support team.
• Another creative aspect of the project is to
  transcend the boundaries of the traditional
  classroom by requiring students and teachers to
  develop their own project science proposals to
  use the Faulkes Telescopes and to assess, reduce
  and critically analyse the authentic data derived
  from them.
• This approach supports inquiry based learning
  strategies for both teachers and their students
  and empowers teachers to use a constructivist and
  evidence-driven approach to real world phenomena.
  
• The methodology for evaluating the professional
  teaching, learning and development activities was
  based on a reflective design research approach.

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IYA 2009- an opportune time to launch this project

• 2009 is the International Year of Astronomy (IYA)
  
• This presents us with an additional opportunity
  to raise the awareness of astronomy, promote
  science and astronomy as a valued part of modern
  culture within the classroom context and to
  encourage better awareness and appreciation of
  the natural world.

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Some of the major challenges that arose from the
DEST ASISTM pilot project 2006-2008 lessons
learned

• It became evident that many teachers experienced
  difficulties in accommodating this project into
  tightly- packed schedules and the curriculum ?
  adequate resources within schools a
  pre-requisite.
• Teachers were able to address this by confining
  the time to a limited number of periods and
  developing innovative ways to provide students
  with the necessary background by using learning
  tools such as a WebQuest ? careful adequate
  timetabling.
• It was also clear and anticipated that the
  success of the project in any school was
  significantly correlated with the confidence and
  competence of the science teacher in both
  astronomy content and the technological ICT
  challenges.
• Unsurprisingly, teacher professional development
  was identified as the key area that needed to be
  addressed if such educational opportunities are
  to be maximised ? teacher release.

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ICT Innovations centre
excellent and relevant supportive infrastructure
for both teachers, students and project team
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Pilot project feedback continued

• A critical aspect of the project was to develop
  new skills and expertise in the science teachers.
  
• As well as improving content knowledge, the aim
  was to assist teachers in locating, accessing,
  modifying and developing learning activities for
  students using the Faulkes Telescopes through
  teacher professional development and mentoring.
• Part of the pilot projects success was in
  creating cross- curricular synergies
• With the help of the TAs, support astronomers and
  enthusiastic teachers, students designed the
  projects they would like to investigate, applied
  for telescope time and analysed their data in
  exactly the same way a professional astronomer
  would pursue their research ? continue with
  similar model for this project
• This enhanced the study of astronomy for students
  and introduces them to the scientific process in
  a real and tangible context.

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Student comments from our pilot DEST ASISTM
PROJECT 2006-2008

• Everybody found this project awesome and I cant
  wait to do more
• It was so interesting and not that hard to do
• I cant believe I have contributed to real life
  science

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Examples of Faulkes Projects

• Clusters of stars
• Observing stars in three wavebands to give
  colour tempand relative luminosity
• Hence age of cluster

• Planetary Nebulae
• Imaging, measuring and classifying
• Identification of central stars

• Variable stars
• Monitoring variation in brightness
• Estimating sizes of eclipsing binary stars

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Not just astronomy!
Communications
Technology
Materials
ICT
Electronics
Robotics
Image processing
Mechanics
Optics
Mechanics
Mathematics
And links with . . .
Geography
History
Technical English
Art . . . . .
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Moodle use in project - not very successful
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PhD scholarships

• PhD scholarships available (MQ CSU)
• Possible research topics, which will utilise the
  significant statistical data set which will be
  obtained from this project, include
• Research the pedagogical effectiveness and
  potential of astronomy in science education
• Application of intervention techniques and
  methodologies and measure their impacts /
  outcomes on science education
• Longitudinal study of students attitudes
  towards, and educational outcomes in science
• Longitudinal choices made by students as they
  progress to university
• Effectiveness of teacher professional
  development in technology
• Other potential projects will be considered

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A/Prof McKinnon
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Key Project Aims

• Produce a set of learning and teaching materials
  that engage students with science in general and
  with Physics/Astronomy in particular within an
  ICT context and which encourage a depth of
  understanding rather than lightly covering a
  breadth of topics.
• Develop a teaching and learning context in
  physics for effective professional development so
  that science teachers are confident to employ ICT
  and related pedagogies that enhance students
  learning and also to provide opportunities to
  explore and develop their own interest.
• Investigate and develop strategies in which
  students use FT data to meet the learning
  outcomes of the NSW Stage 4/5 Science (pp.1112,
  3637, 4044) and the HSC Stage 6 Physics
  syllabuses (Module 8.5 9.2 Option 9.7) and
  where FT access and use serve as engagement
  mechanisms to enhance their learning in physics,
  mathematics and ICTs.
• Explore and make explicit the manner in which
  students engage with, and learn from, the new
  technologies available to them via their use of
  the FTs and the data generated by it.
• Create cross-curricular synergies and establish
  inter-school linkages, both here and with
  overseas partners, as a means of extracting
  maximum learning benefits in a globally connected
  world.

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Syllabus Contents covered by Interventions

• Year 10 Big Bang Theory, Components of the
  Universe, Energy and Force, Theories and Laws
• Year 11 The Cosmic Engine
• Year 12 Space (Core) and Astrophysics (Option)
• Four of the five Prescribed Focus Areas (history,
  nature and practice, applications, current issues
  RD).

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Project to Syllabus Mappings

• Projects
• Contents of the universe
• Keplers Laws and gravity
• Asteroids
• Masses of planets (Jupiter, Saturn)
• Star Clusters and Stellar Evolution
• Planetary Nebulae
• Galaxies
• The Big Bang (quasars, spectrometry, red-shift)
• Astronomical Methods
• Instrumentation
• Photometry (differential and full aperture)
• Light curves (asteroid, variable stars,
  supernovae)
• Spectrometry
• Statistical sampling methods

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Research Questions

• What key factors affect students capacity to
  understand and retain foundation science
  concepts, their levels of interest in school
  science and their participation in Stage 6
  physics?
• How does a design research model, learning
  framework and teacher/student partnerships in
  science research projects impact day-to-day
  classroom practice and student learning?
• What range of possibilities/constraints exist for
  students who engage in science inquiry tasks
  using the FTs?
• What teaching and learning opportunities and
  avenues of communication exist within and between
  teachers, students and the community of
  astronomers?
• What impact does professional development and the
  use of broadband-based pedagogies have in
  building teacher confidence and competence in
  both the subject matter and the technological and
  conceptual challenges involved with implementing
  FT projects in physics and astronomy?

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Outcomes - Students

• Students will
• develop confidence in their use of scientific
  knowledge and their ability to apply it in
  scientific practice including ICT competence via
  use of the FTs
• develop knowledge about their own learning of
  science and how they are able to use the skills
  acquired from access to the FT online
  infrastructure to develop further their
  scientific knowledge and understanding (Hackling,
  1998)
• link the practical and theoretical aspects of
  science to their own science learning
• value the intellectual quality and rigour in
  their own work
• begin to develop a lifelong appreciation and love
  of science and of what science can offer in terms
  of their understanding of the world, its
  importance to Australias economic productivity
  and to their own career pathways.

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Outcomes - Teachers

• Teachers will
• promote science relevance for students and
  strengthen their engagement in science learning
• be inspired to be competent, confident and
  creative in their teaching approaches (e.g.,
  Appleton, 2003) through the variety of strategies
  and activities available via the FTs
• think and reflect about their teaching of physics
  in particular, and science in general, in ways
  that accommodate the needs of their students set
  within the context of using the FTs
• be able to locate, access, modify and develop
  learning activities for students using the FTs.

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Outcomes - Schools

• Schools will
• introduce a powerful and engaging pedagogical
  mechanism where teachers can apply cognitive
  learning techniques to cater for students from a
  wide range of backgrounds
• provide an ICT/physics learning environment which
  seamlessly covers IT, physics and mathematics
  whilst also engendering a base of scientifically
  useful generic skills involving the creation,
  refinement and operational parameters of a real
  experiment followed by the reduction, analysis,
  interpretation and evaluation of bona-fide
  experimental outputs
• offer a novel and challenging outlet for gifted
  students in science and technology.

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Method
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Data Sources

• Teachers
• Questionnaires administered via web
• Interviews
• Record of activities during project
• Observation of lessons
• Students
• Questionnaires administered via web
• Pre- and Post-Test of content knowledge
• Interviews
• Work samples
• Web-based data on interactions and communication

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Start - 2009

• Term 3
• All students and teachers complete ethics
  approval
• First professional development session for
  teachers complete pre-intervention Astronomy
  Diagnostic Test (ADT)
• All students and teachers complete
  pre-intervention Secondary School Science
  Questionnaire
• All students complete pre-intervention ADT- 27
  items
• 1/3 of Year 10 classes commence intervention

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Method (ethical issue)
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Online Questionnaire Links
Pre-ADT http//wsww01.csumain.csu.edu.au/sote-surv
ey/dnl-project/students/adt_pretest-section1.html
http//wsww01.csumain.csu.edu.au/sote-survey/dnl-p
roject/students/adt_pretest-section2.html http//w
sww01.csumain.csu.edu.au/sote-survey/dnl-project/s
tudents/adt_pretest-section3.html Pre-SSSQ
Student Version http//wsww01.csumain.csu.edu.au/s
ote-survey/dnl-project/students/pretest-section1.h
tml http//wsww01.csumain.csu.edu.au/sote-survey/d
nl-project/students/pretest-section2.html http//w
sww01.csumain.csu.edu.au/sote-survey/dnl-project/s
tudents/pretest-section3.html Pre-SSSQ Teacher
Version http//wsww01.csumain.csu.edu.au/sote-surv
ey/dnl-project/teachers/pretest-section1.html http
//wsww01.csumain.csu.edu.au/sote-survey/dnl-proje
ct/teachers/pretest-section2.html http//wsww01.cs
umain.csu.edu.au/sote-survey/dnl-project/teachers/
pretest-section3.html