Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jan 2012
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2012aas...21923601l&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #219, #236.01
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
The Planetary Science Institute, in partnership with the Tucson Regional Science Center, offers a series of professional development workshops targeting elementary and middle school teachers in Tucson, Arizona. Using NASA data sets, research results, and a team of Earth and space scientists and educators, these workshops provide teachers with in-depth content knowledge of fundamental concepts in astronomy, geology, and planetary science. By participating in hands-on exercises, the teachers model the processes and skills scientists use. With a stronger knowledge of science content and of how science is actually conducted, the workshops instill greater confidence in teachers’ ability to teach earth and space science. Currently 72 teachers from 39 schools have attended 14 offerings of our workshops. One measure of success of our program is that over 50% of teachers have attended two to five of our workshops. Teachers consistently cite hands-on activities, modeling of scientific process, and interaction with scientists as the three top benefits of the workshops. Additionally, they report an increase in the knowledge of science content, increased understanding of how science is actually conducted and a greater confidence in their ability to teach earth and space science. Current workshops are: Moon-Earth System, Exploring the Terrestrial Planets, Impact Cratering, Asteroid-Meteorite Connection, and Volcanoes of the Solar System. Two more workshops, Deserts of the Solar System and Astrobiology and the Search for Extrasolar Planetary Systems are being developed. A successful component of our program has been the use of rock and meteorite kits as an integral part of our instruction. In addition, we are now developing a series of short workshops to train educators to learn to use the kits in their classrooms, science fairs, star parties, and other educational and social events. Details of our workshops can be found at: www.psi.edu/epo/pdworkshops.
Baldridge Alice M.
Bleamaster Leslie F.
Buxner S. R.
Cañizo T. L.
Croft Steven K.
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