Astronomy for Human Capacity Building: Children & Schools

Pedro Russo (EU-UNAWE/Leiden Univ.) Edward Gomez (LCOGT/Cardiff Univ.) Co-Chairs of the IAU OAD Task Force 2: Children and Schools

Pillars of Capacity Building

ASTRONOMY  

Primary  Educa4on  

Secondary  Educa4on  

Ter4ary  Educa4on  Research  

Science  Public  

Outreach    

Stimulates imagination Brings perspective

Gateway to sciences and engineering

IAU OAD TF2 Children & Schools

By 2020 IAU OAD has facilitated: §  the training of hundreds of thousands of teachers. §  the inclusion of astronomy in the curriculum of dozens

of countries. §  the production and distribution of hundreds of

educational resources for teachers and children. §  the organisation of thousands of events for children.

And in this way reached millions of children.

Our Vision

Children and Schools

Main Tasks:

§ To advise the OAD on Children & Schools matters

§ To support OAD Regional Nodes Activities

§ To facilitate interactions between pre-tertiary education stakeholders

§ To support the OAD fundraising

§ To run some key core projects

To use astronomy to inspire the very young and stimulate education, especially science education.

Core Project 1: Peer Review Platform

§  A platform for astronomy communicators to discover, review, redistribute, submit and remix educational resources.

§  A platform to review and obtain objective guidance on the resources, have successful resources published in a central repository and receive IAU approval/accreditation

1.  Reuse - e.g., make a digital copy of the content

2.  Revise - e.g., translate the content into another language or modify a learning activity

3.  Remix - e.g., incorporate the content into other content

4.  Redistribute - e.g., give a copy of the content to a friend

5.  Review: Content and quality reviewed (and improved) by the community peers

Peer Review Platform for Educational Resources

Core Project 2: Astro Pack

§  Demand for physical materials is high, mainly in the developing world.

§ Many educational resources produced end up in storage rooms without being used.

§  The idea is not to produce new materials but use the existing printed ones.

§  Lend credibility to the material.

§  Can be used without a computer (but if it is easy to provide digital copy we can consider this too).

Proposals from the Community

Type of 2012 proposals: § Teacher Training § Resource Development § Curriculum Research § Visually Impaired Educational Material

94 Proposals (only 5 proposals accepted) € 772 079 requested (€ 27 000 granted)

EU Global Astronomy Education Projects

 § EU  Universe  Awareness:  Funded  by  the  EU.  § EU-­‐HoU:  Connec4ng  classrooms  to  the  Milky  Way:  Funded  by  the  EU.  

§ Las  Cumbres  Observatory  Global  Telescope  Network:  Educa1onal  ac1vi1es  coordinated  from  the  EU  with  emphasis  in  South  Africa.  Funded  by  private  donor.    

   

Use perspective, inspiration and fun of astronomy to:

§  Introduce young children from disadvantaged backgrounds to the excitement of science  

§  Enhance their understanding of the world and demonstrate the power of critical thinking  

§  Broaden children’s minds  

§  Stimulate world citizenship

EU Universe Awareness

2011 European Union awarded EU-UNAWE 1.9 million euros to fund the 3-year programme in 6 countries (The Netherlands, Germany, the UK, Spain, Italy and South Africa)

International Network §  Platform for teachers and development of professionals worldwide  §  Exchange of ideas, experience and materials  §  Coordinators and managers in each participating country, tailored to

each country/community  

Educational Material §  Games, cartoons, songs, hands-on material, etc.  §  Needs to be FUN and INTERACTIVE  

Teacher Training §  Give teachers the confidence to introduce astronomy and other

science topics in their classrooms  §  Teacher = strong multiplier

EU Universe Awareness

EU Universe Awareness

54 Countries (37 from developing world) 600+ Educators, Teachers & Astronomers

More information

§  IAU OAD: www.astro4dev.org

§ EU Universe Awareness: www.unawe.org

§ EU-HoU: Connecting classrooms to the Milky Way: http://www.euhou.net/index.php/exercises-mainmenu-13/radio

§ Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network: www.lcogt.net

Pedro Russo @pruss | Edward Gomez @zemogle