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
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