Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userAstrobites as a Community-led Model for Education, Science Communication, and Accessibility in Astrophysics
135
0
0.0
(
0
)
Authors
Gourav Khullar
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
Support for early career astronomers who are just beginning to explore astronomy research is imperative to increase retention of diverse practitioners in the field. Since 2010, Astrobites has played an instrumental role in engaging members of the community -- particularly undergraduate and graduate students -- in research. In this white paper, the Astrobites collaboration outlines our multi-faceted online education platform that both eases the transition into astronomy research and promotes inclusive professional development opportunities. We additionally offer recommendations for how the astronomy community can reduce barriers to entry to astronomy research in the coming decade.
rate research
Read More
The NSFs Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship (AAPF) is exceptional among the available postdoctoral awards in Astronomy and Astrophysics. The fellowship is one of the few that allows postdoctoral researchers to pursue an original research program, of their own design, at the U.S. institution of their choice. However, what makes this fellowship truly unique is the ability of Fellows to lead an equally challenging, original educational program simultaneously. The legacy of this singular fellowship has been to encourage and advance leaders in the field who are equally as passionate about their own research as they are about sharing that research and their passion for astronomy with students and the public. In this positional paper we address the importance of fellowships like the AAPF to the astronomical profession by identifying the science and educational contributions that Fellows have made to the community. Further, we recommend that fellowships that encourage leading postdoctoral researchers to also become leaders in Astronomy education be continued and expanded.
Hundreds of thousands of astronomy education activities exist, but their discoverability and quality is highly variable. The web platform for astronomy education activities, astroEDU, presented in this paper tries to solve these issues. Using the familiar peer-review workflow of scientific publications, astroEDU is improving standards of quality, visibility and accessibility, while providing credibility to these astronomy education activities. astroEDU targets activity guides, tutorials and other educational activities in the area of astronomy education, prepared by teachers, educators and other education specialists. Each of the astroEDU activities is peer-reviewed by an educator as well as an astronomer to ensure a high standard in terms of scientific content and educational value. All reviewed materials are then stored in a free open online database, enabling broad distribution in a range of different formats. In this way astroEDU is not another web repository for educational resources but a mechanism for peer-reviewing and publishing high-quality astronomy education activities in an open access way. This paper will provide an account on the implementation and first findings of the use of astroEDU.
Astronomers have played many roles in their engagement with the larger astronomy education ecosystem. Their activities have served both the formal and informal education communities worldwide, with levels of involvement from the occasional participant to the full-time professional. We discuss these many diverse roles, giving background, context, and perspective on their value in encouraging and improving astronomy education. This review covers the large amounts of new research on best practices for diverse learning environments. For the formal education learning environment, we cover pre-university roles and engagement activities. This evidence-based perspective can support astronomers in contributing to the broad astronomy education ecosystem in more productive and efficient ways and in identifying new niches and approaches for developing the science capital necessary for a science literate society and for greater involvement of underrepresented groups in the science enterprise.
This White Paper highlights the role Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs) play within the astronomy profession, addressing issues related to employment, resources and support, research opportunities and productivity, and educational and societal impacts, among others. Astronomers working at PUIs are passionate about teaching and mentoring undergraduate students through substantive astronomy experiences, all while working to continue research programs that contribute to the advancement of the professional field of astronomy. PUIs are where the majority of undergraduate students pursue post-secondary education, and as such, understanding the unique challenges and opportunities associated with PUIs is critical to fostering an inclusive astronomy community throughout the next decade. We provide a view of the profession as lived and experienced by faculty and students of PUIs, while highlighting the unique opportunities, challenges, and obstacles routinely faced. A variety of recommendations are outlined to provide the supporting structures and resources needed for astronomy to thrive at PUIs over the next decade and beyond - a critical step for a profession focused on fostering and maintaining an inclusive, supportive, and diverse community.
In the context of a classroom lesson, concepts must be visualized and organized in many ways depending on the needs of the teacher and students. Traditional presentation media such as the blackboard or electronic whiteboard allow for static hand-drawn images, and slideshow software may be used to generate linear sequences of text and pre-animated images. However, none of these media support the creation of dynamic visualizations that can be manipulated, combined, or re-animated in real-time, and so demonstrating new concepts or adapting to changes in the requirements of a presentation is a challenge. Thus, we propose Chalktalk as a solution. Chalktalk is an open-source presentation and visualization tool in which the users drawings are recognized as animated and interactive sketches, which the user controls via mouse gestures. Sketches help users demonstrate and experiment with complex ideas (e.g. computer graphics, procedural animation, logic) during a live presentation without needing to create and structure all content ahead of time. Because sketches can interoperate and be programmed to represent underlying data in multiple ways, Chalktalk presents the opportunity to visualize key concepts in computer science: especially data structures, whose data and form change over time due to the variety of interactions within a computer system. To show Chalktalks capabilities, we have prototyped sketch implementations for binary search tree (BST) and stack (LIFO) data structures, which take advantage of sketches ability to interact and change at run-time. We discuss these prototypes and conclude with considerations for future research using the Chalktalk platform.
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
