Engaging the next generation through astronomical endeavour

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Engaging the next generation through astronomical
endeavour

• Robert Hill
• Northern Ireland Space Office
• Space Connections Group

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Armagh Planetarium
Before
After
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Visually engaging subject matter
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Scale and size
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International Year of Astronomy 2009
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Portable Planetarium
Armagh PlanetariumBlackrock Castle Observatory
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Science Festivals
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BT Young Scientist exhibition
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Chinese New Year celebrations
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Astrogazers Ireland
ASTROGAZERS IRELAND
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Teacher Training
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Faulkes Telescopes
10M Dill Faulkes Educational Trust 1M STFC
(UK research council) 0.6M Dept. for Education
(government)
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RoboNet - Time Domain Astrophysics
Faulkes Telescope Project
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FTN
Haleakala, Maui-11 hrs
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FTS
Siding Spring, Australia 9 hrs
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The aim of ASTRONET is to come to a concise
European plan for the next 15-20 years on
astronomy in its widest form
ASTRONET Panel E Education, recruitment/training
public outreach

• The Panel E divided into 5 task groups which
  focussed on data gathering and assessment in the
  areas of
• university education and research
• school education
• science museums and planetaria
• public communication and outreach
• relationship with industry

http//www.astro.ljmu.ac.uk/airs2008/Programme.ht
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Thinking Skills Personal Capabilities
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Thinking Skills Personal Capabilities

• as with Assessment for Learning, research is
  showing that this is an effective means to
  address boosting achievement
• the previous curriculum had become overburdened
  with content knowing what, at the expense of
  knowing how
• The framework is there merely to make focusing on
  this aspect of learning more explicit.

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Thinking Skills Personal Capabilities

• Its about slowing down the headlong rush to fill
  pupils with subject content, and instead taking
  time to reflect on learning, and make the
  learning more effective and transferable.
• There is plenty of research evidence to support
  the contention that this is an effective model.

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Thinking

• A means of drawing attention to the fact that
  different areas of knowledge and information are
  connected
• What is happening in the heads of pupils when we
  ask them to make a decision?
• What sort of thinking is going on when we ask
  them to make a prediction?
• Is the same sort of thinking taking place in
  different activities? Compare two
• How can you get pupils to be better thinkers as
  they approach the tasks you set them?

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What do I do with all this stuff?

• Once the information has been collected then it
  can be considered and so collecting the
  information to be considered represents an act of
  Managing Information.
• analysing it to consider what youve got and what
  to then do with it, represents what is captured
  within Thinking, Problem-Solving Decision-Making.
• Arriving at some conclusion as a result of that
  search for meaning is likely to involve some
  aspect of making a creative interpretation.

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Recommendations for discussion

• Outreach needs to clearly define the target
  audiences and the best approach to reach them.
  This means specialising certain products and
  re-using raw material for special purposes.
• Consider creating a team of subject specific
  experts to supply outreach material. The same
  team may also be scouting the community for
  material suitable for outreach (e.g. from
  preprints, proposals, etc.)
• All material should be easy to find and provided
  in full quality. It should be provided to users
  in several easy to handle formats through the Web
  or physical copy
• Outreach should provide raw material to
  educational establishments

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Recommendations cont.

• Outreach activities need to be assessed
  objectively for their impact and effectiveness.
• A clear guidance on what Outreach should do has
  to be provided by managers. A priority plan
  should be developed for optimal use of the
  available resources.
• Exhibitions need to be tailored and staffed
  depending on the event at which they are
  presented. Involvement of industrial or research
  scientists/ engineers should be sought for stands
  at professional meetings.
• The collaboration with educational centres should
  be strengthened with Outreach providing raw
  material in support of activities by the science
  centres.
• Scientists/Engineers should be more strongly
  involved in the outreach activities. Public
  Outreach has to be seen as a partner by those
  involved in industrial and academic research.

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rob_at_spaceconnections.net