The Beyond Einstein Explorers' Program (BEEP) Getting Astronomers Involved in Afterschool Activities

Computer Science – Learning

Scientific paper

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Scientific paper

There is tremendous potential for astronomers to engage afterschool programs in their local areas. Afterschool programs reach a diverse population of students and allow for learning experiences different from those in a classroom. We offer an astronomy afterschool program that scientists can easily adopt, adapt, and run in their local areas. BEEP is targeted at middle school students and introduces basic astronomical tools and the Universe beyond the solar system. The primary goal of the program is to spark curiosity and excitement about the Universe in both program leaders (who often don’t have a science background) and students.
A promising model for training leaders and maintaining oversight of the programs is to have a team consisting of a scientist and 1-2 astronomy graduate students partnering with local afterschool program(s). BEEP’s structure is flexible enough to be split into modules and run in a variety of settings, from “astronomy days” to summer camps to year-long afterschool programming. We also welcome the opportunity to work with astronomers running this program to add new modules.
This program was developed in close collaboration with afterschool programs in the Washington, DC area. The sessions were developed by adapting well-tested existing formal education materials and activities for the afterschool environment. The program was piloted in summer 2006 and evaluations showed that it was successful and met our primary goal of engaging the students (and preparing the leaders). We are currently refining this program to reflect feedback from the pilot, and it will be ready for wider dissemination by summer 2007.

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